mondojohnson

As a former wanna-be rockstar, I hesitate to heap scorn on other musicians (unless I am among close friends — then I’m unstoppable). But I must concur with the Village Voice’s choice for the worst record of the decade that is now coming to a close.

The VV appropriately chose the cover of Big Yellow Taxi inflicted on us by Counting Crows and Vanessa Carlton. It was such a mistake, a pointless anachronism performed by two acts that were skating on thin ice with me to begin with. I had alternated between loving and loathing the self-absorbed whining of Counting Crows (e.g. Mr. Jones and Long December); and I was willing to let Vanessa Carlton live despite her awful pre-teen girly music. Hey, at least she provided material for the one funny scene in White Chicks.

But let me pass the mic to the Village Voice, who said it best:

…”Big Yellow Taxi” … was pre-lubed and yearning for a nation whose nostalgia muscles were so atrophied they couldn’t comprehend much more than the “hey, this pop culture reference exists”-style comedy of Scary Movie 2….[It] exists because the same nation that re-elected President Bush and demanded a sequel to Beverly Hills Chihuahua practically pisses their sweatpants at the idea of a modicum of change. “Big Yellow Taxi” is a song that didn’t need to be remade the first seven times, but Counting Crows figured it was easier to record it than rob a bank. It’s Alvin & The Chimpmunks without CGI and shit-eating–except in the case of “Big Yellow Taxi,” the CGI is the glossy purr of Vanessa Carlton, and the shit-eating happens whenever we have to hear this song at the dentist or at Walgreens or inside a dingy Guantanamo Bay cell.

Yep.

[Source: Village Voice, The 50 Worst Songs of the '00s]

Del the Funky Homosapien is trying out a very cool “pay your own price” concept for his latest album, Automatik Statik.

From “The Funk Chronicles” newsletter:

…you pay $3 or $300, the choice is yours! If you spend $30 or more, you will get a limited edition set of Skullcandy “Funkman” Icons, be able to participate in Del’s conference calls with fans and become a member of Del’s “Hierollers Club.” Hierollers will have access to benefits such as guest list at shows, limited products unrleased to the public and more.

Cut Del some slack on the spelling errors and go support this awesome artist and novel pricing structure…. Get your copy of AUTOMATIK STATIK… I know I’m going to. (Though I’m stuck in the $3 category, I’d pay more if I could.)

Yusuf, the beautiful singer formerly known as Cat Stevens, brought a joyful tear to my eye on The Colbert Report. Enjoy.

Fro Sosa from the not-forgotten Miami-Cubano band Nuclear Valdez.  Remember them?  Appearing on the cusp of hair bands and grunge in the ’90’s; I always thought they were original, rockin’, and yes, sexy.

Back in the day I had the “cassingle” (that was a short-lived format of those transitional music media days) of their hit Summer, that I listened to often in my car.  It had a strictly acoustic verison on the “B” side which I have had a hard time finding on iTunes or anywhere else.  Any tips out there?

Anyway, I’ve ordered their more recent stuff and am looking forward to it.

Check it out.

“I can feel Dave’s cock!” Kyle Gass howled. Well, we can all feel Dave’s cock via his magnificent drumming on the D’s album….