I don't care about Valentine's Day, no matter what my relationship status happens to be, but apparently a lot of people do. As I aim to please our ravenous readership, I offer to you three versions of Roxy Music's 1975 hit “Love Is the Drug,” which is as fine a VD-celebratin' song as any (plus, blogging about it allows me to link to my Sprawl of Sound column, in which I review the new Roxy DVD, The Thrill of It All: SYNERGY!).
Below you can view vids of Roxy Music's original, plus covers by Grace Jones and Kylie Minogue. You should be ready to get it on after this audio/visual binge. If not, see me.
"The video for Erykah Badu's new single, "Honey" (off her upcoming album World War 4) pictures her wandering through a record store that seems to sell only vinyl. Each time she selects an album and holds it up to the camera, the cover comes to life with Badu singing. Each album is recognizable as a takeoff on the cover art of artists such as Diana Ross, Eric B and Rakim, The Beatles, Grace Jones, the Ohio Players, De La Soul, Funkadelic, and Earth Wind and Fire. In each case, Badu herself is now the central figure, with a different and often bizarre hairstyle each time.
"When Badu gets to the checkout counter (where there is a sign advertising the abandoned CD single), she tells the clerk to keep the change as a sign scrolls across the screen: "Support Your Local Record Store." On the other hand, the video also depicts a shoplifter who doesn't get caught. Is this Badu's comment on filesharing?
"As for the song "Honey," it's classic Erykah Badu--warm, inviting, quirky. Pop with punch."
White Rainbow (Portland guitarist/FX maestro Adam Forkner) made one of my favorite albums of 2007, Prism of Eternal Now. Here's my review from an earlier Heard Mentality post.
Below you can experience a 25-minute live set, shot by Jordan Dykstra. Get lost... and profound.
The Complete On the Corner Sessions boxed set recently came out to much fanfare, including my own hyperventilating blather on the subject here. (By the way, I noticed that Dusty Groove is selling the six-CD set for the reasonable sum of $127—a bargain for one of the greatest albums ever, plus bonus cuts galore and an indispensable, image-rich booklet.)
Below enjoy a teasingly truncated interview with a few of Miles' old band members from that creatively fertile era and then immerse yourself into the maelstrom of a performance from that stellar year of 1973. It's scarier than any Halloween mischief you'll be experiencing tonight.
Interview with Pete Cosey, Dave Liebman and Michael Henderson in Miles' old backyard
