David Theiss

Producer(s): Dr. Dre (exec), Eminem, Just Blaze, DJ Khalil, Boi-1da, Denaun Porter, Emile, Havoc, Jim Jonsin, Alex da Kid

Release Date: June 22nd, 2010 (Internet Leak: June 7th, 2010)

Rarely does an artist release an album that makes its predecessor sound immediately insignificant.  ”Relapse,” Eminem’s first album after a 5 year hiatus by way of drug dependency, was billed as his comeback.  Upon it’s summer 2009 release, “Relapse” was head and shoulders better than his flaccid 2004 release “Encore,” so most people (including yours truly) were more than happy to lavish praise upon it.  Everything about it was improved from “Encore:” lyrics, production, subject matter, maturity.  Was it repetitive?  Absolutely.  But it was refreshing to have Eminem back and flashing signs of brilliance again – even if we had to put up with tired jabs at Kim Kardashian and Ellen Degenerous.

Well, throw that album out the window.  ”Recovery” is Eminem’s true comeback.  Within the first minute of the first track it’s completely evident: Eminem has stepped his game up to another level.  Lyrically, he’s on a rampage.  Not in the schtick-shock way that he’s been known to (repeatedly) turn to.  But instead, Eminem gets rid of every crutch he’s turned to in the past and just spits.  His mother is only mentioned in passing, gross out humor is all but gone, teen-pop icons almost entirely get a pass.  ”Recovery” is a serious record dealing with self-examination and all out ‘fuck you’ bravado.  If “Relapse” was an album dedicated to testing whether or not his rap muscle still worked, “Recovery” shows that not only does it work and work just fine, it’s in better shape than it’s ever been.

Em employs a few strange bedfellows, including Pink and Rihanna, whose cameos prove effective in varying degrees – the Rihanna track “Love the Way You Lie” has hit single written all over it (who’da thought?).  Pink isn’t as successful as “Won’t Back Down” is an aggressive rap/rock track that suffers from both its bloated length and the fact that it’s just too loud and assaulting on the ears.  Meanwhile, the 5 minute epic “No Love” featuring Lil Wayne is already proving to be a watershed moment for both artists (much better than the hollow “Drop the World”), and is certain to be a track bumped in car systems everywhere.  Eminem always knows how to finish an album, too.  The hidden track “Untitled” like “Underground” before it, is a throwback to the maniacal and scatterbrain Shady rants from albums past.

The album also benefits from Em’s decision to branch out with different producers other than his longtime partner Dr. Dre.  A song like “25 to Life” which suffers from an old and played out metaphor, gets lifted to an album highlight by an inventive beat.  Sonically, “Recovery” sounds new and refreshing and the absence of Dr. Dre’s repetitive horns and piano really allow Eminem to stand out on his own – not that he’s had any trouble ever doing that.

It’s not all great though.  While there isn’t nearly as much filler as previous outings, there are still a few tracks I could do without and long time Eminem fans are still pining for a Royce guest spot that is always rumored to be happening but never does.

So, where does “Recovery” rank in the Eminem collection?  Well, if you put “The Slim Shady LP” and “The Marshall Mathers LP” at 1 and 1A I think this release comes in right behind it.  It’s more focused and driven than “The Eminem Show” and leaps and bounds ahead of “Relapse.”  This is a record I can see propelling Eminem back into the mainstream of the hip-hop consciousness again like he was back in ’02 and ’03.  But instead of being a novelty shock act, he’s stepped out as a legit and seminal hip-hop artist.  He’s always claimed to be one of the greatest and now he’s cemented his place among the best in the game.  It’s a mature and defining record that shows so much promise for what lies ahead.

For the first time in a long time, the future for Eminem is bright.

Strongest Tracks: “Cold Wind Blows” and “No Love”

Weakest Tracks: “W.T.P.” and “Won’t Back Down”

My Grade: A-

The last bastion of the music I liked when I was fifteen is still alive. Eminem is probably the last artist from my adolescence that I can still listen to – and for that matter the only one that I still am passionately interested in. Eminem isn’t what he used to be but there’s little debate as to who the kings of rap are these days: Eminem and Jay-Z. That’s it. Lil Wayne is trying to get to the same stature as those two but still has a ways to go.

In the meantime, here is the new Eminem video for the song “Not Afraid” from his upcoming album “Recovery.” It’s a little strange, has a slightly dated Matrix vibe, and Eminem looks like he may have had plastic surgery (his face looks waaay smooth), but it’s still worth a look. I’m EAGERLY anticipating the album, check back for a review once it leaks.

I haven’t blogged in a good long while.  Every now and again you get a stretch where nothing warrants putting fingers to keys.  So, in preparation for one of these times happening again, I’ve created my own little series.  So now, every time I don’t have anything to say, I’ll have a go-to topic to just pull out and write about that, if nothing else, will at least satisfy me.  And places I want to visit is a list that will never, ever end.

The first entry is The Flora-Bama Lounge and Package.  As far as I can tell, this place feels as if it was built exclusively for me.  Once dubbed “America’s Last Great Roadhouse” it sits on the Florida coast, two hours east of the Alabama boarder and plays host to every wanderer, traveler, and beach bum that  ha spassed  through since 1964.  However these days, as evidenced by people like me knowing it by name, I’m sure its become something of a popular stop.

You can read more about it on the Wikipedia page dedicated to it – about how Hurricane Ivan laid waste to it in 2004 or how Jimmy Buffett basically wrote “Bama Breeze”  about it and places of the like.   But in the great traditions of bucket lists and fanciful life goals, I want desperately to get to the Flora-Bama.

Just to get an idea:

I don’t know what it is.

It goes against pretty much all of my most basic musical instincts.  I know she’s an empty pop act.  I know she’s capitalizing on the trend of the past few years that is making catchy songs about chicks being total skanks.  She rocks a lot of auto-tune.  And she’s incredibly good looking and in a perfect position to be the hottest thing going for the next year or so and then never be heard from again.  I know all this and I don’t care.

I came across her not by listening to the radio (even though I have heard her song “TiK ToK” played everywhere every three seconds) but because I got her mixed up with another girl, Uffie, who basically sings the same song.  Truth be told, I like the collabo Uffie does with Justice far better than anything that Ke$ha does (she has a dollar sign in her name, it’s ironic and I love it, shut up).  But there’s something undeniably sexy and irresistible about her and her music.  It may be because her best song contains one of my all-time favorite lyrics: “Don’t be a little bitch with your chit-chat/Just show me where your dick’s at.”

If you can’t turn off your brain and enjoy this, you take yourself far too seriously.

If anyone can fill me in on this mystery, it would be greatly appreciated.

For some reason unbeknownst to me, John Mayer apparently still has a career in music.  To be perfectly honest, I only know a few of his songs: there’s the one about running through the halls of his high school, there’s Your Body is a Wonderland, and there’s the recent tune from the movie “The Bucket List” where he more or less sings, “say what you need to say,” over and over and over again broken up by a few 8 bar verses.  To me, John Mayer’s voice is basically unlistenable as are the few songs that I can attribute to him.  I’m just not a fan and probably never will be.

His music is less the problem for me right now than is John Mayer himself.  You see, the guy is a complete douchebag.  He had (or still has) a show on VH1 a few years back that was basically him running around entertaining himself in disguise or as a character, and just being a general d-bag to everyone until they find out it’s him and then all are astounded and awestruck that they have actually met the great and hilarious John Mayer.  More recently, he can be counted on like clockwork to be on any of the national news aggregate websites with bizarre and sexually explicit comments that he’s volunteered to whatever magazine will listen.

His newest spouting isn’t funny or sexually explicit, however.  And to be honest, it’s not all that offensive if only because it comes from John Mayer who, as I’ve outline, I think is a raging jerkoff.  The following are his latest words of wisdom he gave in response to a question as to why black people love him to Playboy Magazine:

“Someone asked me the other day, “What does it feel like now to have a hood pass?” And by the way, it’s sort of a contradiction in terms, because if you really had a hood pass, you could call it a nigger pass. Why are you pulling a punch and calling it a hood pass if you really have a hood pass? But I said, “I can’t really have a hood pass. I’ve never walked into a restaurant, asked for a table and been told, ‘We’re full.’”

Again, I’m not offended by what he said because I’m sure he’s coming from an honest place and and isn’t a racist.  But with that being said, I am astounded by the complete arrogance that he displays when he thinks the rules of basic social interaction don’t apply to him.  He has since apologized for the quote on Twitter (three real sincere tweets).  Now, I’ve been told he’s basically a virtuoso on the guitar, and that may be true, I really don’t know.  But for the record: it’s never cool for a white guy to drop the “N” bomb, John.  You should know that.

You’re a douchebag.

I posted about these guys a few months back after NPR put their song “Charlie Darwin” on their best-songs-of-the-year-so-far list (it was in June or something).  What I neglected to post about after sharing two of their songs on my blog, was how much I absolutely fell in love with the band and their album “Oh My God, Charlie Darwin.”  Now, ever since my computer broke, I haven’t been able to listen to new music as much as I would like to, but from what I’ve heard this past year, “OMGCD” is my favorite album of the year, hands down.  It’s really quite amazing – and if you haven’t heard it yet (which I suspect many, if not all of you reading this, have not), it’s really worth a listen.  Their style varies wildly on the album between beautiful hymns (“Charlie Darwin”), quiet, heartland folk (“To Ohio,” “Ticket Taker”), to raspy Tom Waits-ian barroom jams (“The Horizon is a Beltway,” “Home I’ll Never Be”).  Each of them play a variety of instruments and are all extremely talented in their own rites.

The reason for the post is because I visited their website for the first time in months today, only to find they have some really big things going on.  The big things are as follows:

• They’ve released an amazing and beautiful video for the title song of the album which is embedded at the end of the post.  It’s vague in its meaning, but it fits the song to a “T.”  The first minute or so is absolute perfection as far as music video’s go – at least for me.  For my money, it’s an awesome video for the best song off the best album of ’09.
• The band is also embarking on an international tour which they are headlining!  The dates have all been set, and wouldn’t you know it, the Cleveland date is one of a handful of shows that are already sold out.  If you want to go with me and you can find tickets somewhere, let me know.  I saw them live in August and really liked it.  My company at the concert didn’t love them however, as their album didn’t even make his “Top Albums of ’09” list.
• And if that wasn’t enough performance news, The Low Anthem will make an appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman this Thursday, January 14th.  If the band alone doesn’t warrant staying up until 12:35 AM, you can catch Dave’s other guest, Denzel Washington.  ”The Book of Eli” looks pretty decent.
• And to top it all off, it looks like they’re already underway in recording a new album.  From my quick scouring of their website, it would appear that they have commandeered an abandoned pasta sauce factory in Central Falls, Rhode Island to do their recording.  I would have liked to see them record their album in the back of the Great Northern Auntie Anne’s, but pasta sauce factory was going to be my second choice, anyway.

For me, this is all really big news.  So much exposure for My Favorite-Band-that-doesn’t-have-Bruce-Springsteen-in-it gets me really excited.  Now, if I can find one more person who likes them, my world will be complete.

The beautiful, awesome, touching, ponderous, amazing (adjective, adjective, adjective) video is below:

Bruce Springsteen crowd surfs back to the stage during his November 10th performance in Clevleand, Ohio.

What: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Concert

Where: The Quicken Loans Arena – Cleveland, Ohio

When: Tuesday, November 10th, 2009 – approx. 8:20 PM to 11:20 PM

As anyone who has seen him live knows, a Bruce Springsteen concert is one part rock’n'roll and one part spiritual sermon.   The line between rock star and preacher gets blurred more than a few times during the course of a single  performance, and when those dual roles can meld together and become one, his music can become something bigger and something special – it’s when he goes from simply rocking the house, as he says, to “building a house.”

I was fortunate enough to get to see Bruce Springsteen live for the second time in my life, both times with my dad, this past Tuesday, and we were both absolutely blown away by the performance.  I was able to see him in Cleveland in 2007 on the Magic Tour and was really impressed by the energy and enthusiasm Springsteen and his E Street band brought to his (sometimes 30 year-old) material and how the crowd, of literally all ages, still responded so strongly and passionately to him.  And while I really enjoyed that concert two years ago, it was nothing compared to the three hour epic he put on Tuesday night.

For the final stretch of this US tour, it was decided that instead of force-feeding new music to crowds, he would instead build a set list almost exclusively of his tried-and-true classics – and for a select number of crowds, he would play entire albums cover to cover.  Incredibly, on this night, Cleveland was treated to a concert waterlogged with virtually every Boss hit a fan could ask for including the entire 1975 classic album (and in my opinion, the greatest record ever produced), Born to Run.

While I could go through a blow-by-blow of every song – detailing what I loved and what didn’t go so well – I’ll spare those details and instead give a quick overview of the highlights:

• A new song about Giants Stadium (“The Old Girl” as he calls it), and the opening song “Wrecking Ball” was an appropriately gravel-choked and nostalgic way to open the show.  Hear the new song, performed in said Giants Stadium, here.
• While “Thunder Road” and “Tenth Avenue Freeze Out” were great in their own right, the Born To Run set didn’t truly take off until “Backstreets.”  This is the street corner poet storytelling music many Springsteen fans love and, because he truly doesn’t write songs like this anymore, miss.
• The “Meeting Across the River” and “Jungleland” pairing was amazing – you could practically smell the wet Jersey pavement in the arena.  The crowd was virtually still during trumpeter Curt Ramm’s bluesy “River” riffs and got star-struck during Clarence Clemons’ sax solo in “Jungleland“ by way of some well placed spotlights and disco ball.
• Bruce then collected signs requesting songs from the crowd and filled a few of those requests, playing rollicking renditions of “Red Headed Woman,” “Pink Cadillac” and the emotional “Back in Your Arms” – all were great.
• He ended with the crowd pleaser “Badlands” before coming back out for a pseudo-encore which included the staples “Dancing in the Dark,” the fun and folky “American Land,” and finished the night up with the bombastic “Rosalita.”

By the time it was all said and done, about three hours had passed since the first chords rang through The Q and everyone seemed supremely satisfied and more than a little exhausted.  Many people walking out, some with Springsteen concert shirts dating back to the mid-’70′s, were calling the show an “all-time great” performance.  And while I doubt it surpasses the legendary 1978 Agora performance (which many Springsteen aficionados agree is his best live performance ever), it still was an incredible and unforgettable time.

See the complete set list here.

A lot of you have probably seen some bizarre commercials for a movie being released this weekend called, “Where the Wild Things Are.”  To many, this film may not seem bizarre at all, but rather, extremely familiar and comforting.  That is because ”Where the Wild Things Are” is a movie based on a children’s picture book by Maurice Sendak about a mischievous child who (basically) travels to the land of big, fury, cute, monsters called the “Wild Things,” becomes their king, gets homesick, and goes back home.

The significance of the film lies with its director – Spike Jonze.  Jonze is a fascinating filmmaker who has worked in both film and in the music video medium.  Each of his works are unique, intensely personal, and never ever boring.  Just check out his music video filmography – he has directed some of the most memorable and original music videos in recent memory.

“Where the Wild Things Are” marks the first time that Jonze is making a film not based on a Charlie Kaufman screenplay.  Kaufman, as many know, is also a quirky, bizarre, and completely original writer who is responsible for such strange classics like “Being John Malkovich,” “Adaptation,” and “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” – the first two directed by none other than Spike Jonze.  Kaufman made “Synecdoche, New York,” a movie which I haven’t seen, but have heard is endlessly fascinating if not entirely incoherent.  Interestingly enough, Spike Jonze turned down the opportunity to direct that picture in favor of helming “Where the Wild Things Are.”

Long been rumored to be embroiled in turmoil – delays, re-shoots, studio dissatisfaction – “Where the Wild Things Are”  will finally see the light of day this Friday (October 16th).  And if the director’s past work is any indication (along with the trailer) of its quality and originality, it should be a very interesting film.

I’ve been gone for a long time.  And it’s not because I’m lazy or because I forgot about the site, it’s just because I haven’t felt all that strongly about anything as of late that warranted a half an hour to sit and write.  There’s not a whole lot going on that I can see, but there are a few quick thoughts that should at least hold me (and presumably the seven people that read this) over until my next go-around at whatever hot button tickles my fancy.  Here are some quick thoughts:

• The Cleveland Browns: I went to the Brown and White Scrimmage on Sunday (August 9th) to check out the new look team.  Some things I took away from the practice: 1.) Both quarterbacks – Brady and DA – looked below average, but with the 51 yard TD pass on his first play, Brady has the early advantage, 2.) the WR Mohamed Massaquoi looks like a stud, and 3.) Braylon Edwards, it seems, has no desire to even try – he caught one ball and rode the bike.  It also looked like he was jawing at Derek Anderson after he neglected to throw him the ball on every play – stay tuned.
• Politics: The far right fringe is dominating and winning the health care debate.  They’ve successfully made the Obama Health Care Plan (even though there isn’t one yet) look like the devil incarnate.  Death Panels, “communal standards,” care rationing, the elimination of Medicare and Medicaid, and euthanasia – none of which are in any bill in any committee in either house of Congress.  The Republicans that Big Pharma and the insurance companies bought during the 90′s and the Bush Administration are going all in to destroy Health Care Reform – and right now, they’re succeeding.
• Music: Miley Cyrus’s new song “Party in the USA” rocks hard.  I don’t like her or the type of music she makes, but it’s one of those surprise songs that kind of hits you – kind of like everything Kelly Clarkson has ever released.  Love it.  Listen.
• Music: I saw The Low Anthem in concert last Wednesday (August 5th) and really liked it.  I was disappointed they didn’t play any of their more raucous songs (“The Horizon is a Beltway,” or “Home I’ll Never Be”) but it was still a really enjoyable time – even if the crowd was a tad on the rude side.  Plus, hearing “To Ohio” played in Ohio for the first time ever was pretty memorable, too.
• Music: Eminem is back at Mariah Carey with his new diss track “The Warning.”  It’s juvinile and stupid – and really, really awesome and hilarious.
• Movies: I haven’t seen any.  I used to love movies and going to see them, but the stuff that’s being put out recently hasn’t gotten me up and to the theaters.  Even movies I really looked forward to like “Bruno” and “Whatever Works” couldn’t get me to the theater.  Note to self: make a more concerted effort to get to the movies in the near future.  I do want to see “The Time Traveler’s Wife,” but I’d say the chances are pretty slim of that happening.
• Television: Big Brother, while it’s not an all time great season like Season 6, it’s still more than excellent.  For some strange reason I find myself really rooting for Jessie – and kind of Jeff – but Jessie mostly.  He’s been the most thoughtful player throughout, ironically.
• Video Games: All of my thoughts about video games will be dated by about two years since I’ve only had my Xbox for about 6 months and I’m catching up on all the must play titles I’ve missed.  But I just finished Half Life 2, which I liked a lot (much more than BioShock) even though it was super, super easy.  It’s now time to pivot toward Mass Effect and maybe Madden 10 – I love my Xbox to death.
• Food: Katie and I went to the restaurant Fahrenheit in Tremont for our anniversary (our 8th) and we both really liked it.  I got the Halibut and she got Cheese Ravioli.  It was a little bit pricier than our last Tremont restaurant experience ($62 in total with no drinks and an appetizer), but it was well worth it and very, very good even thouh there were literally 2 other people in the entire place with us – I guess Monday night isn’t a cool night to go out.

That’s all I can muster right now.  Hopefully, something will happen that will warrant a full post in the near future.

I’ve been trying to force myself to finish playing BioShock after starting and stopping it several times over the past year and a half so I can write up a post detailing my 10 best video games of all-time.  Unfortunately, I’m finding it pretty difficult to finish the game (not because it’s hard, but because I’m just not that into it), so I need to post something else to keep my blogging momentum up.

Even if it is a throw away blog entry, I have something little and relatively insignificant to impart.  The guy that does the “All Songs Considered” show on NPR, gave three songs that he considered to be the best of the year – so far.  One of them, “Charlie Darwin” by a band called The Low Anthem sounded interesting to me, so I wrote it down and made sure that I would listen to it later.  I did, and I must say I love it.  They have another song called “To Ohio” which is a little different, but still really good.  I honestly don’t know anything about this band yet, so they may be really popular or they may be nobodies – but they are more on the “indie” sounding side of things.  I will definitely be downloading their entire album, Oh My God, Charlie Darwin, ASAP (which will most likely happen well before I finish BioShock).

I’ve come to realize that most music I like will garner strong hatred from basically everyone I know regardless of their own personal musical tastes.  So, I understand if nobody likes these guys.  But I do.

Here are the two songs I mentioned earlier, “Charlie Darwin,” and “To Ohio.”

UPDATE: They will be at the Grog Shop in Cleveland on August 5th (a Wednesday).  Who’s with me???