On This Day…
1955 – Bo Diddley appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show. The show had requested that he sing his version of ‘Sixteen Tons’, but, when he appeared on stage, he sang his own song ‘Bo Diddley’ resulting in him being banned from further appearances on the show.
1968 – The Monkees film ‘Head’ opened in six US cities. Reviews were harsh and the picture was a box office disaster.
1974 – The Who drummer Keith Moon collapsed during a concert after his drink was spiked with horse tranquilizer. 19 year-old Scott Halpin who was in the audience, volunteered to replace him on drums for the remaining three numbers.
1998 – A study comparing noise levels of rock music, found that older people rated rock music much higher on a loudness scale than younger people. The researchers carried out by Ohio University tested people age 18 to 21 and people ranging in age from 51 to 58. The study asked participants to rate the loudness of rock music played at nine intensities, ranging from 10 decibels to 90 decibels. Participants listened to “Heartbreaker” by Led Zeppelin for 10 seconds at different intensities. At each intensity, the older subjects gave the music higher numerical ratings based on loudness than the younger subjects.
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Brand New Music
Freddie Gibbs | Shadow of a Doubt
It’s been a busy year for Gary’s own Freddie Gibbs. He’s become a father, launched his own strain of weed and dropped a seriously good LP in Shadow of a Doubt. Following the success of his Madlib collaboration and his previous EP Pronto, Shadow of a Doubt takes a number of musical risks – even getting dangerously close to R&B in tunes like “Careless” and “Lately”. However, the same ‘edge’ that made Gibbs famous, the tales of street life, murder, and crack-dealing, still permeate throughout his stylistically deadpan delivery.
Arca | Mutant
This one certainly is a trip. A complete maelstrom of contrasts. The ability of Alejandro Ghersi, aka Arca, to create a beautiful and transcendental electronic journey of sound is otherworldly. Relatively sparse, the album keeps to its namesake and constantly shift (or mutates) from form to form. You can very easily get lost in this record – hell, you can get lost in 30 seconds of this thing and end up listening to it for hours.
Adele | 25
She was never going to touch 21. Can we all agree that this was an impossible feat? Now, depending on the sales (which may take a hit due to the fact that her management isn’t offering it to streaming services) she may again end up with a boatload of Grammy awards. Musically the record never really reaches the heights the listener wants it to. Relying heavily on the AC power-ballad, Adele has brought back ‘safe-adult-contemporary’ in a way I didn’t even think was possible anymore, especially considering her impressive roster of producers , co-writers and collaborators. It really seems like Adele struggled with this one from the start and honestly, it’s evident in the final product. 25 sounds like it was trying to please everybody but ended up pleasing nobody. This record, and it’s lead single “Hello”, will be gracing dentist office waiting rooms for years to come.
