GIGANTIC Magazine

Hey guys,

Here is a link to this new online magazine I have just been involved with, check it out:  http://giganticmag.wordpress.com/2009/02/23/one-sentence-contributors-preview/.

Derek

 

Rap music is certainly changing for the worse, in my opinion. T.I.’s album this year is certainly good in the realm of rap albums that come and go. Naturally, like all artists, all of T.I.’s critics are comparing him to his older work. Critics compare his current work to his other names and alter egos, including the Rubber Band Man and T.I.P. Some say he is on top of rap based on one of his singles, “Swagga Like Us”, off his latest album Paper Trail.   

Some people, hardcore fans that have listened to rap since the beginning, think material like T.I.’s is just mediocre. That it and most mainstream rap could be so much better and Lil Wayne as the carrier of hip-hop into the new millennium is a lame excuse for being the King of Hip-Hop. I disagree, I think Lil Wayne is unique because of his vocal sound, and his raps are weird, making him stand out because he does not make sense most of the time. But that’s what makes him great. Rap has come to a time where rap is full of hot beats, but I do have to agree that most of the lyrics could be better. The samples are cool but I do get tired of all the rappers rapping about the money and stuff; who cares? I want the rappers to return to rapping about the ghetto, the hard times, the struggles. Maybe all the rappers are all past the days of the ghetto. There was the gangsta rap era where 2Pac and so many others struggled with living in LA, Compton or New York, respectively. There were even earlier artists like New York City’s Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five with songs like “The Message”, where they talked about surviving in poverty in the inner city. Now that all of the rappers are rich and famous, full of bling, cars, women and fun times at the clubs, the past is gone. Perhaps we are in the next step of evolution for rap.

Jay-Z is the rapper probably most famously known for bringing a drug dealer-turned rapper from the ghetto into fame and success: The true rags-to-riches story. Jay-Z brought everyone into the good life and made everyone talk about swagger and stuff. I am sure there are rappers out there that keep it real and true to form, Immortal Technique is one of them. However, rappers are not getting into the mainstream, as they deserve. Common is out there, but I do not feel it from him like I did from Grandmaster Flash. I do not hear the inner pain, the eternal struggle of being a black man in a white man’s world. Moreover, isn’t that what it comes down to?

Is Daniel Day-Lewis one of the greatest actors ever?

Is Daniel Day-Lewis one of the greatest actors of all time?

He is not acting, he is being. Daniel Day-Lewis is not just playing the character, I see the actual person he is portraying. Daniel Day-Lewis is a highly versatile actor, and one of the most brilliantly so of our generation. He portrays evil so well in his characters, that I can’t even tell that it’s him. I don’t see Day-Lewis, its Daniel Plainview or Bill the Butcher. Sure, he has portrayed heroes and good people at times. But it’s the roles where he plays someone evil that his talent really shines. And most of the time, he doesn’t even physically hurt anyone. In Gangs of New York, he stabbed people and threw daggers into the backs of his “enemies” with his trademark butcher knives. But through most of the movie and in There Will Blood, all he had to do was give the other character that look; that heavy glare of despise. The look of: I want to tear your bloody head off.  You think he’s going to hurt the other character, but he doesn’t most of the time.  And that’s where the talent lies. That’s where the acting comes in. When he plays a good guy, there is so much emotion held within and he is about to burst. When he is portraying a villain, he has that same containment and you see the anger and hate in his eyes. As a viewer, you have the same feeling that he does, that he is just surrounded by filth. The irony is that he is the character filled with filth. His hatred and malcontent with his “enemies” contorts his face, squishing it and aging it. You see all the lines and wrinkles in his face; he looks so much older just through his facial expressions. His ugliness is amazing, who could tell that it’s an actor doing this?

Day-Lewis stole the movie Gangs of New York from Leonardo DiCaprio, just as DiCaprio stole the movie The Departed from Jack Nicholson. Leo portrayed more emotion than Nicholson did, if you want to see a more menacing role by Nicholson, look at The Shining. At the 80^th Academy Awards ceremony, Day-Lewis praised Heath Ledger for his role in Monster’s Ball and Brokeback Mountain, and I found it very revealing. It showed me a skill that makes an actor great: They are able to pull feelings from so deep within themselves and express it so easily. And they are also able to see the talent emerging in someone else, just as Day-Lewis had seen it in Heath Ledger.

You can call Day-Lewis a method actor, some have even labeled him as the British Robert DeNiro (Day-Lewis is part Irish but was born in England). He played the good guy in Last of the Mohicans and The Age of Innocence and did a solid job, but he stands out in Gangs of New York and There Will Be Blood. His true “acting” comes out when he is sinister. Legend on the movie set is that he dives into the role, and does not come out of character, becoming one with the person he will portray. Now I am waiting to see how much he gives of himself in his next role.

Death Magnetic

Metallica

Death Magnetic

I first heard Metallica right after I started listening to Black Sabbath, who are the Godfathers of Heavy Metal, hands down. Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple just simply were not that HEAVY. Black Sabbath made the skin crawl and the blood curl. It sounded like you were in an actual horror movie and the goose bumps were starting.  Metallica just amplified Black Sabbath and made metal even rawer, faster, louder and gave the impression that they were purely insane.

I thought Death Magnetic could be louder, a LOT louder.  Sure, we’re all going to endlessly compare it to Kill Them All, Ride the Lightning, Master of Puppets and even …And Justice for All and I could just simply turn the volume up, but sometimes I wanted that beautiful noise back.

 “That Was Just Your Life” is a rumbling and charging song that got me moving with excitement that Metallica is making music again. The guitars are here by full force just like they should be and Kirk Hammett has rightfully brought back his amazing solos in “The End of the Line”. These first two songs have gotten me more excited for their ‘return’ in 2008: Thunderous and loud, finally! There was a nice break in the middle of the song too, sounded a little psychedelic there.  “Broken, Beat, & Scarred” gives a nice reminder of what Metallica sounded like in the album …And Justice for All. The guitar work here is nice and simple, and the solo is so clean!! “The Day That Never Comes” is very similar to “Fade to Black” and “One”.  It builds slowly with lyrics about death, a little bit of hope in the face of darkness; criticizing war which Metallica is known for. There is a slow start to this song that goes into a charging beat that gives you the feeling this is going to get even bigger. I like the restraint in James Hetfield’s voice as he is trying to control his anger. The distorted riffing and the chugging get the song going, but there is no loudness, no extreme Metallica like there used to be! I must admit it’s a great song for what it is.

“All Nightmare Long” just confirms that Metallica have some of the best openings in all of Metal and Rock music. They know how to set you up and get you going.  “Cyanide” has a good beat and all, great riff, the kind of old school feeling that I haven’t heard from Metallica in a while. It grows on you. But I don’t like Hetfield’s howling, or whatever you want to call it, even though the lyrics are slick. The riff is killer and Kirk and James are slamming it. This song, like “The Day That Never Comes” gets better after the middle part. The boys are on their way to getting so much better, I can feel it. Just another album or two and they will be back in business.  “The Unforgiven III” has that classical music touch that Metallica occasionally dabbles in, like on their S&M album. This song is a nice break, and shows Metallica flexing their instrumental muscle because they have so much more to offer than just metal. I can hear Metallica do thrash from beginning to end, but for newcomers trying to get into Metallica, it is an intermission worthy of their talent.

“The Judas Kiss” sounds like a lot of other recent Metallica songs, where Metallica is just trying to stay above water, stay current, but they unfortunately just sound like their countless spawn. All they have is Hetfield’s voice to make them stand apart. I have to say that the great opening and the Wah Wah pedal really helps this song.  “Suicide & Redemption” has a chuggy riff that brought Black Sabbath to mind, and this one is nice and dark!! My head is definitely nodding to this one and I’m so glad instrumentals have returned to Metallica’s repertoire! The guitars are REAL good, probably the best solo on the whole album (?) and this is what the band is about.

Again, “My Apocalypse” brings in the great rolling, beating drums that everyone knows, courtesy of Lars Ulrich. The solo guitar work is sick, and this track shows you the high-level of production that Rick Rubin has brought to this album. My only qualms are that there could be a heavier and louder bass, one that looms over the song, and takes over the song. It just could be heavier.

Their 80’s work was simply amazing, but here I am, trying to listen to their music while not comparing them to their older counterpart. Thrash should evolve and not stay in the 70’s/80’s where it was born, but I couldn’t help but ache for that sound when I listened to their new album. Let us be grateful that Metallica is still around, recording and holding on to their true sound. We just have to see where they take their sound next. 

 

 

All Points West Festival

It smells like weed out here on a Saturday at the All Points West Festival in Jersey City. Dragonflies and cigarette ashes fill the air, but it’s still a beautiful day with sweltering heat, not a cloud in the sky and one of the first acts is Alberta Cross. I first discovered them on MySpace and dug their hard/Southern blues rock sound. Grungy with long, dirty hair, dressed in plaid shirts and black vests with cowboy boots, and ultimately looking like Lynyrd Skynyrd, Alberta Cross’s slow jam blues is a nice refreshing sound in comparison to other bands. It’s a shame there aren’t more bands like this with high-pitched vocals, in-your-face distortion, feedback and great slide guitar. “The Thief and the Heartbreaker” was a straight-up jam with a warm and catchy chorus for the crowd to bop their heads along to.

Then there was Chromeo, a very high energy group consisting of P-Thugg, the keyboard and synthesizer player, who reminds me of DJ Khaled, dressed as Mr. T. I thought it was pretty nifty when he brought out the talk box. And Dave 1 looked a lot like Jakob Dylan or Bruce Springsteen before he released Born to Run. The crowd was pumping, Dave 1 busted into fast-paced rapping over a techno dance floor beat and girls were dancing everywhere and it turned into a club. The duo was having fun which is always good to see. Loud, screaming guitars, talk boxes, cowbells, oh my! And their keyboards had mannequin legs for stands! For all the visual touches and the popular songs “Two Step” and “Momma’s Boy”, the songs started to sound a lot like each other which bored me so I ventured off to Nicole Atkins.

Never thought Pork Roll, Egg and Cheese would perform on stage? Ha, well Nicole Atkins brought out some backup dancers, courtesy of Lakewood Blue Claws dressed up as Pork Roll, Egg and Cheese respectively. It was pretty hilarious as Nicole Atkins confessed she has three loves: “New Jersey, Pork Roll, Egg and Cheese sandwiches, and punk rock”, as the three costumed volunteers danced onstage. And after that, she plunged straight into a Patti Smith cover and her sultry, deep pipes impressed me.

The Virgins were good and the Black Angels were killer, I thought they were second best to Radiohead that day. Their loud ringing guitars gave the band an ethereal atmosphere and the slow-tempo could have manifested into surefire jams if the band had more time. They took the sound of the Doors into a psychedelic realm, as if the Doors weren’t psychedelic enough. For one, the singer looked like Morrison with his beard and sounded like him too. His Morrison drawls and incoherent vocals put him as a contender for the closest thing to the Doors lead singer in rock today. The drummer for the band, Stephanie Bailey, had a memorizing performance and an air of coolness surrounded her. She didn’t call out for attention like some drummers do and she really kept the band together with her fluid playing. No frills and she kept a consistent beat. It didn’t hurt that she wasn’t bad to look at either.

And now I save the best for last. Radiohead was amazing, clearly the best band of the night and still one of the top rock bands today. Their music is so surreal and each song melts right into each other. Their visual show is something I’ve never seen before: split screens and the members were all bathed in red, green, purple, static, kaleidoscope, infrared and neon colors, giving them an out of this world show(the red color made the bassist Colin Greenwood look as if he came straight out of a cartoon). Giant wind pipes were set up as a projector for the Pink Floydian lasers and choreographed strobe lights that were in sync with the songs. It was something I’ve never seen before, and their music just kicked ass. It was one big show, techno, drum-and-bass, some rapping and spastic dancing from Thom Yorke. I was alien to their live shows, and I was welcomed with open arms. This show made their songs 10x greater than they are on record and their recordings are solid; each song they give 110% on. No filler, they give their heart and soul to each song, like it’s their last. No song sounds dated in concert and the things that they do on stage and in their records are just total experimentation. I’m sure it’s been said before, but they are the closest to being this generation’s Pink Floyd.  I never thought Yorke would sound so pure and rich like he does on the records. They played songs from The Bends, OK Computer, Kid A, Hail to the Thief, and most of their latest album In Rainbows, but I have a feeling that Radiohead will only get better with time.

Dark Side of the Moon

Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd is a masterpiece for the ears. It is full of sonic booms and bangs that travel from speaker to speaker like a crazy train. The album is for music listeners who appreciate the avant-garde, minimalism and ambience. Guitars, synthesizers, drums, bass and the most hi-tech equipment of the day were used to construct this rock music milestone.

In 1972, Roger Waters, the bassist for the group, was feeling life was going by too fast for him and he wanted to slow down and analyze it. So he broke it down into key themes for this new album: First, there is the human lifetime which is the umbrella for the album. Appropriately, a heartbeat starts off the opening track "Speak to Me/Breathe", created by the bass drums of Nick Mason, the drummer and percussionist. The track segues into "On the Run" which incorporates many of the sounds the listener hears throughout the album: Footsteps, clocks, airplanes landing and so forth which grabs the audience by their ears. The song shows the maniac pace that life takes us on, and how humans are always on the run, traveling from place to place. Life goes by and according to Waters people are preconditioned by our parents and society to think that life starts when our higher education is finished and when we are out on our own. This is not the case, life begins as soon as we are born, and that is the theme of the song "Time": `You are young and life is long and there is time to kill today./And then one day you find ten years have got behind you./No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun.'. Waters shows that time waits for no one and if you don't live life to the fullest, it will just waste away.

"Great Gig in the Sky" includes an instrumental piece with guitarist David Gilmour on the lap pedal, keyboardist Richard Wright's piano work and an improvisational vocal by session vocalist Clare Torry. Torry scats throughout the song. Scat singing is a jazz term, meaning that the vocalist just improvises over music with humming and what not. The song can be interpreted as a song about death, even though there are many interpretations. The vocal highs and lows match the musical flow in the background, showing the successes and depressions we all go through in life; Torry's voice speeds up, her volume increases, and then she slows down after the climax.

"Money" is a song about the good and bad sides to our dead presidents. You can get everything you want if you can afford it, but what happens when greed claims us and we want a share of what someone else has? Money makes the world go `round, it fulfills our dreams and desires usually, but the question is whether it makes us truly happy or not. Material possessions can only last so long, and the evil thing about money is that it always drives us to get more. Listeners should think that Waters wants us to remember what is really important with one of the last lines in the song: `Money is the root of all evil today'.

Next song: "Us and Them". This song, like "Great Gig", can be translated many different ways. The feeling of Us and Them is universal for humans: teenagers and their parents, natives and immigrants, countries at war, the rich and the poor, outcasts and insiders, weirdoes and the "normal" people; you can fill in the blanks. "Any Colour You Like" is full of wah-wah guitar, "Brain Damage" is a song about insanity and "Eclipse" wraps up the album saying that whatever we do is pointless because life ends: `All that's to come/and everything under the sun is in tune/but the sun is eclipsed by the moon.'. Therefore, the end of life coincides with this line which concludes Waters' album-length theme of the human lifetime.

Throughout the album, voices can be heard by numerous people that the band interviewed with random questions. There are answers to questions involving violence, brutality and death. The subliminal voices in the background featured give a whole new type of element different from other albums I have heard, and I think it makes DSOTM richer and more alive.

DSOTM is a personal favorite of mine that I can listen to over and over again. However, I do not consider it to be Pink Floyd's best; that title belongs to Animals from 1977. Animals is a biting satire created by Waters on human society, broken up into the categories of dogs, pigs and sheep, as an allusion to George Orwell's Animal Farm. Animals is raw and dirtier, something I feel DSOTM lacks. DSOTM is one of those rare and flawless albums, but sometimes it's that flaw that can also make an album great, and that album is Animals. Why did I talk about Dark Side and not Animals? Well for those music lovers new to Pink Floyd, I recommend you start with Dark Side and then branch out to the Floyd's albums before and after.

And to my fellow Pink Floyd fans, matching Dark Side of the Moon against The Wizard of Oz does not work; I have tried it. There is a rumor on the internet that if you turn off the volume on the movie and start the album at the beginning of the movie (there are debates as to when to exactly start the music), the music will coincide almost perfectly with the movie.

Now sit back with your headphones and speakers, (I highly recommend listening to Dark Side in the dark) relax, and zone out.

Dedicated in memory of Richard Wright, keyboardist, songwriter and original founding member of Pink Floyd.