Axis of Justice | "Alice in My Fantasies"

  

The Axis of Justice supergroup is comprised of Tom Morello and Brad Wilk (Rage Against the Machine/Audioslave, on guitar and drums, respectively), Flea (Red Hot Chili Peppers, bass), Pete Yorn (guitar), and Serj Tankian (System of a Down, vocals/keyboards.) This incarnation of the band is the brainchild of Morello and Tankian, who founded the Axis of Justice non-profit, "to bring together musicians, fans of music, and grassroots political organizations to fight for social justice."

"Alice in My Fantasies" hails from their live album and DVD Concert Series Volume 1. Knowing Morello and Flea's predilection for vicious riffs and hardcore funk, it is no surprise they chose this filthy (in the best sense possible) Funkadelic song to cover. The influence Funkadelic's main verse riff has had on Morello and Flea in their own bands is palatable, like Márquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude to Rushdie's Midnight's Children, a wise ancestor laying the foundation for future generations. Morello and Flea clearly know what's up. They are deep in the pocket, grooving with and against the riff, while Wilk and Tankian are out of step with the song. Espeically Tankian. Unlike George Clinton in the original, Tankian doesn't relish the nastiness, his adlibs are far from funky, and he only sings one line from the lyrics. Here is the original.

Bootsies Rank Method

What Is Groove? will begin employing a new ranking method to the songs, albums, and books reviewed. There will be a label for all new ranked items. The method is called "Bootsies" and it will work in a one-to-five Bootsy scale. 

One: Zone of Zero Funkativity

Two: Bush-league

Three: Kinda feelin it

Four: Diggin it!

Five: Mothership Status

Prince's Sign 'O' The Times, for example, would get five Bootsies.

    

Metallica | Death Magnetic

It's fitting that a heartbeat opens Metallica's Death Magnetic, their first album in five years. It might not be a rebirth, but it's certainly a resurrection. Though their previous album St. Anger attempted a return to their thrash roots, there were many omissions and questionable decisions: insulting to most metalheads, there were no guitar solos; the snare drum sounded like a beat up tin can; the background vocals were unnecessary and often intrusive; and the alt-rock melodies didn't jive with anything. Well, you can forget that mess. Bring on Kirk Hammett's molten light solos, bring on the double bass drum hits, the rapid fire triplets, the abundance of rhythmic switches and time signature changes. After all, this is Metallica in their natural state.

There are ten tracks on the album, but the truth is you can multiply that by three or four, and in some cases six. Most songs are multipart behemoths that continuously pile new riffs, licks, and rhythms on top of each other, until those give way to completely new sections. The previous steps are repeated with new grooves, and then Hammett is unleashed. If there's any revelation in these tunes it's the lead guitarist. In "The End Of The Line," after the second or third groove change, there's a short feedback buzz and out of nowhere, a rumbling, lightning-fast mound of notes tumbles in a frenetic wah-wah haze. A groove change later, the band returns to the main riff, which sounds like a variation on Pearl Jam's "Animal," as guitarist and lead vocalist James Hetfield growls the song's title.

A catalogue of metal riffs is included in "All Nightmare Long." If there's any metal band out there running out of ideas, it might be a good call to jack one of these. Somewhere in these heavy as lead textures I'm sure is bassist Rob Trujillo. The fact that he's basically inaudible throughout the record isn't his fault. With all the tussling between both guitars and Lars Ulrich's drumming the listener is basically asphyxiated, never mind having space for bass. Unlike most bands, the lack of a bass presence doesn't diminish the band's fascination with rhythmic invention.

The song whose sole focus is rhythm and texture is "Suicide & Redemption," Metallica's first classic instrumental in years. There are so many meaty riffs that at times the song sounds like a tape cut at a rehearsal. Ten minutes of this is hardly enough. It's invigorating to hear a band tear into every note and beat they play. At last Metallica has looked at itself in the mirror and accepted its reflection: the greatest metal band of the last 25 years.

NOTE: In a sharp contrast to their Napster days, the band has posted the entire, unedited album on their website for free streaming. Click here to get pummeled.

Sarah Palin's Debate Technique

So true.

Grateful Dead | Rocking The Cradle: Egypt 1978

Not even the best packaging these eyes have ever seen can save this record. A fold out of a desert scene gives way to a moon-bathed pyramid adorned with the Grateful Dead's Egypt logo. Across the sand version of steal your face is the Sphinx and behind it the eclipsed moon. This dazzling package holds a 2CD/1DVD compilation of the Dead's only shows in Egypt. The band played at the Giza Sound & Light Theater, a majestic open-air venue within meters of the Sphinx and the Great Pyramids. Yes, these gigs are legendary, though often not for the music, but for the spectacle.

When the band realized that the tapes for the first two nights were largely unusable, they went all in for the third and last show, on September 16.  For that reason, most of this comp, excluding "Jack Straw" and "Stagger Lee," came from the last night. The problem is that the tunes are out of order, so the natural flow of this brilliant Dead show is absent. The second disc tries to recreate the last night's second set, and it mostly succeeds. All the necessary highlights are there: a seamless "Ollin Arageed" (with Hamza El Din, Nubian singer and oud/tar player) into "Fire on the Mountain;"a monster "Shakedown Street;" and an acid country "Truckin'." Inexplicably, two second set songs were included in the first disc and two others, including the encore, were omitted. Perhaps a better alternative to mangling this concert would have been to release a complete performance from the last night. Thankfully, we have archive.org to satiate that need.

Spanning thirteen songs and almost 100 minutes, the most essential component of this comp is the DVD. For the first time we're able to see drummer Bill Kreutzmann playing with one arm, since he had broken his left hand before the concerts. Jerry Garcia looks positively enchanted. He's clearly enjoying himself, molding a heartfelt and lyrical solo in "Candyman" and surrendering to the polyrhythmic freedom of "Ollin Arageed." Watching the greatest band in the land perform during their career peak is an absolute joy. It is precisely this, and only this, that makes this set essential. If you want to enjoy a soundboard recording of the entire, unedited final show at Egypt, click this link.

Apple threatens to shut down iTunes

Apple is threatening to close iTunes if a measure is passed by the Copyright Royalty Board to increase "royalties paid to publishers and songwriters by six cents per song," from 9 cents per song, to 15 cents, Wired Magazine reports. Shockingly, Apple iTunes Vice President Eddy Cue said, "Apple has repeatedly made it clear that it is in this business to make money, and most likely would not continue to operate [the iTunes music store] if it were no longer possible to do so profitably." In other words, royalties, shmoyalties; we want to make money and we want to make money right now.

Phish reuniting in Hampton, March 2009

It's official: Phish is coming back! I usually don't use exclamation points, so this must be a huge deal, which it absolutely is. They're returning to Hampton, VA, March 6-8, 2009. Pre-sale is going on now through Oct. 8, then the public Ticketmaster sale will start on Oct. 18. I predict a Hobbesian state of nature for these tickets.