5 of the Best - Bruce Springsteen and the E. Street Band

In light of the death of Clarence Clemons this week, here's 5otB from The Boss and his band of merry men.

Born to Run - Just an astonishing feat of building a song to an end goal; in this case the refrain line "tramps like us, baby we were born to run". Springsteen's lyrical imagery is both a celebration and degradation of the gutter and The Big Man's sax solo is, well, stupefyingly good.

Thunder Road - "Show a little faith there's magic in the night/you ain't a beauty but hey you're alright/and that's alright with me". The first song on the Born to Run LP is the perfect introduction to an album that tells a story of romance and working-class life with such skill and not just lyrically.


Thunder Road

I'm on Fire - Dark, open and easily empathised with, the open letter style I'm on Fire is one of the greatest songs of longing ever written.

Dancing in the Dark - Yeah the drums sound a bit dated, yeah the synths are a tad cheesy and '80s, but it's still a wonderfully catchy tune.


Dancing in the Dark

Blinded By the Light - A really infectious, well-written song with a great chorus that can get stuck in the head easily. Not in a bad way though.

Some Thoughts...

First things first: It was a big shame to wake up on Sunday morning to the news of Clarence Clemons's death. Clemons was a mesmerising saxophonist and, whereas in many songs it can be an annoyance, he made the sax integral to the sound of Bruce Springsteen and the E. Street Band. Rest in Peace Big Man.


Clarence Clemons and Bruce Springsteen (from the Born to Run album sleeve)

Also: For some reason (probably monetary) Coldplay have collaborated with dance music giants Swedish House Mafia. The song Every Teardrop is a Waterfall is OK, but it does seem an odd pairing. Still, fair play I suppose, it's good to be multi-faceted.

Finally: I thought Damon Albarn's performance of his new track Apple Carts (from his new opera Doctor Dee)on The Andrew Marr Show (BBC) was beautiful. It was a really sombre little moment and his voice sounds as good as it ever has.


Damon Albarn - Apple Carts (Live on The Andrew Marr Show)

Radiohead @ Glastonbury '97 on BBC iPlayer

In two days time Glastonbury Festival 2011 begins. This year's main headline act will be U2, the Tesco of modern rock, if you will; extremely big, everywhere and you've probably contributed to their fortune in some way. 1997 saw the Waitrose of modern rock, Radiohead; quality controlling, connoisseur's choice and just that bit better than the rest, take the Pyramid Stage by storm.

By this point Radiohead were arguably already at their zenith having given us The Bends and OK Computer. The subsequent boundary pushing that would ensue in the band's later career would only enhance this lofty reputation, with 2007's In Rainbows at its peak. In footballing terms Radiohead go about their business in Barcelona-esque fashion; better than everyone else and probably Unicef approved due to their ethical stance.


Thom Yorke

Analogies aside, Radiohead are fantastic and, in 1997, on the back of contendably their best album (the aforementioned OK Computer), were an obvious choice for Michael Eavis (Glasto organiser).

Watching this gig on the sofa yesterday made me wish I was older than 10 in '97 so that I could have been a part of it all. From opening track Lucky right the way through this was an astonishing set. The ease with which Thom Yorke seems to be able to sing note-perfect whilst helping his band create a beautiful sonic experience instrumentally is dumbfounding.


Lucky from the gig

As I sat there slack-jawed yesterday in awe of Oxford's finest institution (hehe, my brother as a Cambridge alumnus will like that) it dawned on me that the quality on display was and is so rare that it can truly be labelled 'once in a lifetime', the like of which we may never see matched in the future.

Reasons to be Cheerful, Reasons to be Fearful

3 Reasons to be cheerful...

Arctic Monkeys new album is very good. Suck it and See may in fact be the worst title for an album since Limp Bizkit's Chocolate Starfish and the Hotdog Flavored Water, but it sounds great. Way better than Limp Bizkit.

Lee 'Scratch' Perry has released more of the Black Ark Dub Plates with a record titled The Return of the Scratch Sound System. It's got 5 stars in Mojo and deservedly so, I gave it a quick listen the other day and from what I heard it's more subsonic dub mayhem and brilliance.

Very soon, everybody's favourite West London superheroes, QPR FC, will be back on Match of the Day. Come on you R's.


Lee 'Scratch' Perry - A bit different

3 Reasons to be fearful...

The Feeling have a new record out.

Toploader have made a comeback.

Chancellor George Osborne... in general. He even looks bloody evil doesn't he?

McCartney and Gorillaz?

If reports are to be believed, then Paul McCartney could be in line to collaborate with Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett's Gorillaz. The 68 year old Liverpudlian said "We have kind of talked - nothing serious but I like what they do. It's got near a couple of times but we never had the time". (Quote taken from The Celebrity Cafe website).

Gorillaz are well known for their all-star collaborations, with the likes of Lou Reed, Snoop Dogg and Shaun Ryder all having worked with the animated band in the past, as well as The Clash's Mick Jones and Paul Simonon donating their services recently on the band's tour.


Gorillaz

Should McCartney enter the fold, one wonders what his role may be. With his voice holding up pretty well these days and his multi-instrumental facets coupled with those of Albarn and Hewlett and a taste for more leftfield influence for Gorillaz this could be an exciting prospect.

With last year's Plastic Beach album being lauded by critics and achieving good commercial success, Gorillaz would be expected to come together again soon, however, with Albarn's many other projects, the question must be asked 'where will he fit it all in?'

Personally, the thought of Albarn and McCartney coming together to record each other's burps would dot it for me, but we shall have to wait to see what happens.

1994 Shooting of 2Pac: Man Allegedly Confesses

According to Pitchfork Media this morning, a man has allegedly confessed to shooting 2Pac in 1994. The shooting, which led to the infamous bitter and public rivalry between Biggie and 2Pac (due to 2Pac accusing Notorious B.I.G. of being behind the act), was allegedly carried out by a man named Dexter Isaac on behalf of music Exec. (now manager of rapper The Game) James Rosemond.

In light of this it is possible that police could follow up leads and shed new light on both of the unsolved murders of Biggie and Tupac. Though in many quarters it is believed to have been Suge Knight (Death Row Records's boss) who was behind the murders of both men.


2Pac

Dexter Isaac has decided to confess due to the staute of limitations for an assault passing.

If all of this is believed to be true this could be a big revelation and a step forward in finding out what went on back in those heady East vs West Coast days in the '90s.

The X Factor - Auditions

So, yesterday I spent my day in the audience of the third and final day at the Manchester X-Factor auditions and, wow, I think I saw a potential winner, a definite-to-make-the-telly double-act and, of course, many of Manchester's finest, fishwife-esque loud-mouths screaming away at the judges - the new line-up of Gary Barlow, Kelly Rowland, Tulisa from N-Dubz and the familiar presence of Louis Walsh - and the 'talent' or lack thereof.

Firstly, to the potential winner: an Anglo-American woman of 35 who has a fantastic voice. The lady in question, Beverly (born in Tottenham, London, raised in America, now back in England), sang the Minnie Ripperton hit Loving You in note-perfect fashion (yes, even that ridiculously high bit was perfect) and, as they always say 'this is a singing contest', it is worth mentioning that this lady is the finest singer I have ever seen stroll on to the X Factor stage. Fantastic.

Secondly, on to the two young chaps from Bradford. The guys did a superbly funny rendition of a Justin Timberlake song and that new Drake one (the names of both escape me at the moment), with the shorter, geekier one lurching into raps every so often. Very, very funny.


In with the New... The Class of 2011

The crowd were, well, like you'd imagine a British X Factor crowd to be. Loud, lairy and constantly booing, cheering and gasping where appropriate (or not). Mainly made up of females between 16 and 40, the audience had a wonderful array of exclamations to make for home town judge Barlow from "We love you Gary" to, rather crudely, "I wanna sit on his (Barlow's) lap and spin on his cock" from one rather over-zealous 30-something.

In all it was a great audition day and an insight into how the show is put together, even if it all is a little kitsch. Also Kelly Rowland is bloody gorgeous and Tulisa's not too shabby either. Don't worry I didn't shout out any crude fantasies though.