jay-z

Weezer-Weezer (The Black Album)

/ James P. Crowley / Leave a comment

If you’ve never seen the 2007 Jason Lee-starring children’s film Alvin and the Chipmunks, I implore you to watch it before listening to the latest Weezer record, The Black Album.  Of course, it was only a matter of time before Weezer entered this Spinal Tap realm that was mostly occupied by Metallica and Jay-Z, but it was developed with loathing diehard fans.  While Weezer is a cultural touchstone, and their Teal Album was the subject of ire from many critics, The Black Album is like Alvin and the Chipmunks in that it’s really enjoyable in a mind-numbing way. Continue reading →

Place Your Bets: 60th Grammy Awards

/ James P. Crowley / Leave a comment

The Grammys are usually predictable, but not painfully so, like this year.  This has been a year with a lot of heartache, and after the Grammys have blown it in nominating rock artists of consequence or giving the album of the year to an undeserving pick two years in a row, it’s hard not to get a little cynical, but here are my best guesses of who will win and should win:

Album of the Year

Will Win: Lorde-Melodrama Continue reading →

Eminem-Revival

/ James P. Crowley / Leave a comment

When I was first late to the Eminem fandom, I really went hard for Em’s technical skill, which was perfect, because he was about to put out Recovery.  Very shortly after, I was drawn to the Slim Shady persona that spoke to the angry, young man that I was.  Now, I could take or leave them both.  Some of the ~inspirational~ Eminem songs hold up better than I thought they would, and the better Slim Shady tunes were ever so self-aware.  I don’t care about Eminem as passionately as I once did.  He’s in the same folder as Marilyn Manson: take a look when there’s something new, but it’s probably not good.  Revival was unsurprisingly bad, but offensively so in its length and jingoism. Continue reading →

Artists on Election’s Eve

/ James P. Crowley / Leave a comment

The polls will open in about eight hours.  Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are getting their last minute rallies in before the big day.  A number of artists have performed a wide variety of songs over the past weekend not only to promote their preferred candidate but also to promote voting.  Here are  some choice picks beginning with Win Butler of Arcade Fire performing Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the U.S.A.” during the Preservation Jazz Hall Band’s “Jam the Vote” last night. Continue reading →