Free Music on Amazon.com

Following a string of hefty lawsuits by the Recording Industry Association of America for illegal downloading, I think many of us got scared straight into paying for every cotton-pickin' music download. So we bid farewell to freeness and yanked Limewire off our computers. Because of the simplicity of iTunes' click-n-download (not to mention that unlike Limewire, when you bust out a buck for a song on iTunes, you are guaranteed the whole song and the MP3s are properly named and attributed to the right singer--most of the time), we began to click our way into a recession. Then, Amazon.com came along with it's online music store and not as many of us took note. After all, we stick to what we know. And we know iTunes, iPods and iPhones. So after getting tired of iTunes' stingy free offerings--one or two songs per week (and not very good songs, though this week's Tonino Carotone's "Amar y VIvir" is quite good)--I started looking closer at Amazon.com. Just in time for the holidays, give yourself the gift of free, good music. There are over 1,500 songs to download. You'll need to download an Amazon.com music downloader/player, but it's totally worth it. You can then simply drag your new free downloaded MP3s into iTunes. I work on a MAC and actually the music downloads directly into iTunes--not sure if this is the case on PCs. Just to give you a taste, there is free music by Rodrigo y Gabriela, David Byrne, Ziggy Marley, Anti- and Nacional Records samplers, a Buddha Loung compilation and a bunch of Holiday music. And the nice thing is that you can hit "Preview All" at the top of the link and listen through endless music samples before downloading. Enjoy and your welcome.

Interview: Devendra Banhart

I recently interviewed Devendra Banhart for La Banda Elástica. It was a wild ride to say the least.

My Generation's Elvis

Like most, I have my strong opinions about the enigmatic King of Pop(ularity), also known as Michael Jackson, who died in Los Angeles yesterday of apparent cardiac arrest. He was 50. But today, I prefer to recall the impact he had on me, long before I was old enough to develop a healthy amount of cynicism or rational thought. In remembering the little anecdote below, I'm realizing the magnitude, resonance and influence of this icon--far beyond what my mind would allow me to accept today. His popularity transcended generations, ethnicities, religions and borders. As Washington Post columnist Joel Achenbach aptly put it, "At his best, he was the best."

In the summer of 1983, all that mattered to a young Ecuadorian 8-year-old boy growing up in Miami was a red pleather jacket with thick shoulder pads and a bunch of zippers. The jacket hung prominently at the nearby Kmart. For some context, back then, you never, ever admitted shopping at Kmart. If your parents took you there, you ducked in and out hoping no one saw you. If you were unfortunate enough to run into a classmate, there was an understood, mutual vow of silence. One time, my mom made the mistake of packing my lunch in a Kmart plastic bag. To make a long story short, it took two years and moving from elementary to middle school to dispel the notion that I was a cheapskate.

But now I had a reason--a very, very good reason--to risk being caught in a Kmart: Michael Jackson's "Beat It" jacket. I already had the black moccasins, the white socks, the flood water black slacks and a blue T-shirt with some iron-on image on the front. All I needed was the jacket. It dawns on me now how a young boy that was utterly self-conscious about shopping at Kmart didn't have the least bit of reservation about being a tan-skinned Latino dressing up like an eccentric African American pop star. Nevermind that the red jacket hung in the women's department. The reason, of course: everybody was doing it. Back then, everyone wanted to be Michael Jackson. And at the age of 8, one rule overode all fashion sense: fitting in. To be like, to dress like, to sing like and to look like Michael Jackson was cool.

Around the same time, I knew if I saved my allowance for a few months I could purchase the G.I. Joe hovercraft, retailed at $24.99 plus tax. So hip was it to be like this Mike, that the hovercraft would have to wait. I saved and saved and saved. I don't recall how much the jacket cost, but I remember wanting it more than anything else. When fashion trumps a cool military toy with all the bells and whistles, that should tell you something. My parents were usually supportive of these capricious, childhood wants, as long as my two brothers and I understood how hard it was to earn a buck. But in this case, they pressed the parental override button and didn't let me get my way. Surely, they must have realized how ridiculous it would have been for me to parade around looking like Michael Jackson. Surely, they were looking out for my best interest because they knew that 8 year olds don't need much ammunition to be awfully mean. Of course, they failed to realize that Michael Jackson WAS the norm. NOT being like Michael Jackson was standing out. NOT having the red jacket or knowing how to moonwalk was a reason to mock someone.

A few months later my Aunt Cece from Chicago had sown some sparkling beads on a pair of white gloves. I got the right glove for my birthday and my cousin Bobby got the left one. I didn't have the jacket, but I had the glove. And for the time being I was cool again. I was a normal 8 year old in 1983.

This piece was also published in La Banda Elástica.

The Strokes' Julian Casablancas Must Be Wonderin'

So little by little it seems all the members of The Strokes are starting their own side projects and sorta pulling it off. Albert Hammond Jr. is on his second solo album. Both were very well-received, critically. And now drummer Fabrizio Moretti has two side projects: the hilarious, psycho-hippie-hillbilly on crack project Megapuss, which could only be fronted by Devendra Banhart, and now Little Joy. That's all fine and dandy, except that Little Joy sounds really good and really, really like The Strokes down to the very drunken, passive-aggressive lazy, highly-nuanced croon of Stroke lead singer Julian Casablancas. On Little Joy, Moretti teamed up with Banhart collaborator and Los Hermanos lead singer Rodrigo Amarante, who does such a convincing Casablancas voice, you swear you just heard a new Strokes song. I can just imagine how the conversation between Casablancas and Moretti must have gone after the Nov. 4, 2008 release of the self-titled Little Joy record.

Moretti (M): I wanted it to be a surprise, Jules... so did you hear it? What did ja think?

Casablancas (C): Dude... What the f**k! It's not bad enough that you didn't alter your drumming whatsoever from how you play with us, but you also had to get a vocalist that sounded exactly like me?! Jesus.

M: Come on dude... We are making Brazilian indie rock--nothing like what we do on The Strokes!

C: Os Mutantes was Brazilian indie rock. This project of yours sounds like The Strokes with a few sprinkled lyrics in Portuguese. You gotta be sh*ttin' me! Why not bring some of these great ideas when we start recording the next Strokes record this year?

M: Dude... you're such a d*ck! Like you really let me throw my two cents when we're making a Strokes albums. I'm the effen drummer, remember? The Beatles didn't even let George Harrison get too many of his ideas in there... Ringo? Two words: Yellow Submarine, biatch.

C: Alright dude... what can I tell you? Congrats? Congrats on being the Strokes drummer who formed the new Strokes with a different lead singer?

M: A**hole. [hang ups]

C:Merry Christmas, Ringo.

Watch After Watching

It's been ten years since the Coen Brothers released their box office trash, but cult classic flick, "The Big Lebowski." Without exaggeration, I have seen the movie about 20 times from start to finish. But even so, I couldn't tell you the plot. One person mistakenly pisses on another's "valued rug" that "really ties the room together." The porn industry and nihilists get into the mix. Everyone is chasing everyone and it's almost impossible to keep track of exactly the who the "you" is in the memorable quote: "This is what happens when YOU f**k a stranger in the a**!" The point is that the plot is forgettable and negligible almost by design. The Coen Brothers' penchant for characterization is the selling point. Each character in "The Big Lebowski" delivers deliciously hilarious lines. Each character is complex, idiosyncratic and completely believable. And together, the characters stitch together a fantastic movie experience that could have had a million different plots and the outcome would have been the same. That's the Coen Brothers' magic. It's visible in "Lebowski," but also "O, Brother Where art Thou?," "The Ladykillers" and "No Country for Old Men."

So now we get to the Coens' new release, "Burn After Reading." It's receiving lukewarm critical response on account that the story is not that good. Well... duh... the proof is in the characters. And by that measure, this movie is bound to be another Coens cult classic. Each character delivers lines that no doubt will be memorized and uttered millions of times, over and over. John Malkovich's rage-fueled pompous, has-been CIA operative couldn't be funnier. George Clooney's womanizing ways, sexual deviance and preoccupation with kitchen floors is hysterical. Frances McDormand and Brad Pitt, who work together at a gym, form one outrageously enjoyable doofus sandwich. CIA head J.K. Simmons and CIA officer David Rasche's two closed-quarter meetings provided some of the best comedy in the movie, while "heart-in-the-right-place" hero Richard Jenkins was impossible to root against. And so on and so on. Over the years, each character will learn to be loved for their quirks and terrific lines.

Most movies tend to be a one-time affair: you watch it once and you're done. But with the Coen Brothers, you can help but watch their movies over and over and over, hoping to catch something about their compelling characters that maybe you missed the first twenty times. "Burn After Reading" is one you will watch after watching and then watch it some more.

Has-Beens on the (Old) Block

I'm the first to preach that music writers should leave the auditory art form to the ears of the beholder and simply provide context, but what the old, newly reunited New Kids on the Block are offering up is just too good to pass up

Now look, I'm a two-song (max) closet Kids sympathizer. I want them to succeed as much as the next thirtysomething gal who was teenboppin' back in the Kids' heyday. But the stunt they're pulling is just... Well, what's the technical term? Oh yeah, ick!

So here we are in 2008. The Kids are back together and all growns up. Their girlie-girl demographic who were weezing, crying, screeching for them are all pushing 30 now. It would seem that their target demographic would be those thirtysomething'ers seeking to relive the glory days, right?

Nope. And to be honest with you, I'm not sure who the hell they're singing to/for. The first single called "Single," goes a little something like this:

"It don’t matter cuz ur here now
and the music ur enjoyin’
So for the next couple minutes
Baby i’mma be ur boyfriend

"Pretty mama if ur single…single
(u dont gotta be alone tonite)
NE-YO: so while the dj play this single…single
(just pretend that i’m ur man tonite)"

Okay. Just two things: Not sure that "I'mm be ur boyfriend" is going to do much for a woman in her '30s. And if they're singing to a much younger crowd--somehow selectively forgetting that they've aged 20 years--is kinda weird.

And all of this is based on hearing the first single of their upcoming full length LP. Can't wait to hear what the rest of the album has to offer with such enticing song titles like "Sexify My Love," "Put It on My Tab" and "Officially Over." If they would have sang "D*ck in a Box," at least that would have been funny.

Hot Hot Heat Want Their Rip-Off Back

So the much buzzed about Black Kids, who are not all black by the way, do a pretty good job of ripping off the Cure. I mean that as a compliment. Just listen to "I'm Making Eyes at You" and tell me that puppy's arrangements aren't the Cure (c. Head on The Door) freshly cloned? That particular Cure line-up and sound is not a bad version of the Cure to clone at all. But then it struck me: it's not the Cure that the Black Kids--purposely or not--are ripping off. The Black Kids are ripping off Hot Hot Heat's Cure rip off. Just for s-n-g's I threw a few Hot Hot Heat songs and a couple of Black Kids songs into a playlist and hit shuffle. The resemblance from lead vocals to arrangements was plagiaristically stunning. I wonder if the Kids realize this? In my heart of hearts, I don't have a problem with this. I rather have 100 Cure knock-off bands that some of the garbage making waves recently. Just a thought.

Speaking of the devil... This just in: "Perfect As Cats: A Tribute to the Cure" will be released on Oct. 28. Here's the track list:

Tracklist For Perfect As Cats: A Tribute To The Cure:

Disc 1
01. Fascination Street - Xu Xu Fang
02. A Forest - Bat For Lashes
03. Killing An Arab - Hecuba
04. The Caterpillar - Astrid Quay (of Winter Flowers)
05. The Walk - Indian Jewelry
06. Six Different Ways - Rainbow Arabia
07. Why Can't I Be You? - We Are The World
08. In Between Days - Blackblack
09. Pictures of You - Rio en Medio
10. Fire In Cairo - Gangi
11. Kyoto Song - Joker's Daughter
12. 10.15 Saturday Night - Aquaserge (with Laure Briard)
13. Grinding Halt - The Muslims
14. M - Voyager One
15. The Hanging Garden - Ex-Reverie
16. The Drowning Man - Caroline Weeks (of Bat For Lashes)
17. All Cats Are Gray - Devastations

Disc 2
01. Primary - Dandy Warhols
02. The Upstairs Room - Veil Veil Vanish
03. Charlotte Sometimes - Wolkfin (ex-Junior Senior)
04. Jumping Someone Else's Train - Army Navy
05. A Strange Day - Ich Bin Aiko
06. The Exploding Boy - Lemon Sun
07. The Kiss - Corridor
08. The Love Cats - Katrine Ottosen (CALLmeKAT)
09. A Night Like This - Silver Summit
10. Love Song - Mariee Sioux
11. Close To Me - Kaki King
12. Sugar Girl - Buddy
13. Hot Hot Hot! - Les Bicyclettes Blanches
14. Let's Go To Bed - Tara Busch
15. The Funeral Party - Jesu
16. Three Imaginary Boys - Sarabeth Tucek
17. Disintegration - Lewis And Clarke

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