(One of) Chuck Berry's Perfect Song(s) - Too Much Monkey Business

I'm not sure what I could possibly say about Chuck Berry that hasn't been said better. There's always dispute about the origins of rock n roll, but only if you get into splitting hairs about very specific elements of it or just don't know what the fuck your're talking about. But if you listen closely, all the most important pieces were laid out by Berry. Musically, lyrically and culturally, you can draw a line from Chuck Berry to just about any rock artist since the 50s. As a matter fact, I'll take a step further and say you can draw that line straight to hip hop as well. He was creating his own legend from the very beginning - "Johnny B. Goode" was all about him. He used hip lingo and even made up words. Several of his songs used a talking blues structure that can arguably be considered rapping. But I won't go into anymore and instead make this about what I think is his best song and covers just about everything I think he brought to the world - "Too Much Monkey Business."

As soon as this kicks off, you get that quintessential early rock sound with the guitar, upright bass, drums and piano, all bouncing hard. Then he goes right into what I believe may be the earliest example of recorded rhyme spitting, complete with the "ahh" at the end of each line. If you're not feeling his frustration, you're not listening. Just amazing. Lyrically he's basically had it with all the bullshit, which is not only rebellious, but it's the slacker call to inaction of the grunge era and beyond. And if that wasn't enough, that first guitar solo does something that is almost imperceptible and that I somehow didn't notice until I was listening to the song one day last year. There's a sudden increase in tempo that makes this thing bubble with nervous angst in a way that the 50s wasn't ready to explore fully, but would eventually be the bread and butter of rock. Then it all comes together with the line "I don't want your botheration, get away, leave me be." Perfect.

It's amazing how even though this man was revered and actually did get a lot of credit and respect, he somehow didn't get enough recognition. And I don't even mean in the sense of how so many black artists didn't get recognized for their contributions in favor of the white artists that followed. I mean as a musician and an artist in general. It's easy to overlook what Berry did as simplistic and maybe get lost in some nostalgic fantasy about "music back then" or whatever. But the reality is that his music is timeless. It's still alive in just about everything you hear, but beyond that, listen closely to his technique, his delivery, his lyrical poetry. The man was a master, full stop. And "Too Much Monkey Business" is only one of his perfect songs. 

Best Albums of 2016 - 14 through 11

It begins. . .

14. Coconut Oil by Lizzo:  I put on Lizzo's EP Coconut Oil on the drive home one day after a long day at work and immediately felt great. "Worship" is basically Prince level funk, which makes sense since she is based in Minneapolis. It's no surprise I would love it. But then something strange happened. You see, the next song, "Phone," is something I shouldn't like. It's not my typical type of thing at all. But something about the way she says "How I'm 'posed to get home?" or I don't know what, just charmed the fuck out of me. So much joy and fun in this short collection of songs. "Scuse Me" is body positive sexy, doesn't lose the fun and doesn't get vulgar while remaining naughty. These are all club cuts, with heavy bass. I can't stress enough how out of my wheelhouse this is, and yet there's something Lizzo brings to them that pulls me in. I can't put my finger on it, but the word I keep thinking of is joy and it's sorely needed.

13. Durand Jones & The Implications self titled: It's old school soul and R&B that sounds like it was recorded in the early 60s, so of course it's going to be on my list. Any other year, this would be way higher (although, honestly, I wouldn't put too much stock in my rankings). It's a smoking band and the songs are funky, soulful and smooth. I don't know if this was recorded live or not, but it sure feels like it was. Hell, it feels like it wasn't recorded at all, but is rather played live, on demand, every time you hit play. It was recorded in Ohio, where the group is from, but it could have been Mussel Shoals. Just listen to "Groovy Baby," which is like James Brown and Curtis Mayfield, complete with their bands are dancing on your face, and you're loving it.

12. Let Them Eat Chaos by Kate Tempest: I'm going to say this again later, but I'm not normally one to listen to hip hop. Kate's work is something else to me, though. I mean it is hip hop, but it's not at all what you think of as hip hop, most likely. She's a poet and a story teller in a more traditionally European sense: telling tales of common people and their day to day struggles (that's actually pure hip hop, isn't?). This is at once hip hop and Shakespearean and it blends in ways that are futuristic and urban with a very distinct voice that's kind of classical. So, in essence, Kate is likely the most hip hop artist around. She has internalized the best ideas of the genre - the wordsmith, (hu)man on the street, telling it like it is, the passion - and made them her own in the most unique way possible. On this album, which is an extended poem she tells the story of a few residents of a particular street in London, while speaking to how all our current world issues affect them. This is important and challenging without being preachy or impenetrable. I'm not sure you can easily draw a line from her to any of her influences, but they are there. She just isn't regurgitating them. Even the beats are unique - unexpectedly atmospheric and haunting. This is how the genre grows.

11. The Altar by Banks: Electronic music can be a lot of things. Some would say it's easy for it to be cold and calculated. I would add that, recently, what I've heard, mostly ends up being too quirky, but I could be wrong. Maybe there are other artists like Banks. But I doubt they are as raw as she is. All her songs, even now, far removed from her homemade recordings, sound like they were recorded in her bedroom. Not because they are lo-fi, or amateurish (they never were), but because they are so full of pulsing personal angst and sweaty sexuality. "Fuck With Myself," by the way, is the second song about masturbation mentioned on this list (see Lizzo) and both are appropriately sexy and empowering in their own way. Though I think Banks brings in a level of angst that leads to alternate interpretations of her lyric, "I fuck with myself more than anybody else." Interestingly, both Lizzo and Banks are artists who, on paper, I shouldn't like. But both elevate what they do beyond any stereotype of their genres by making it raw. And that totally is my thing.

The Roots at Sunfest 2016

I knew The Roots were playing Sunfest for months and considered going early on. But I don't normally like big outdoor festivals like this because the sound is never great and you don't get the intimate experience I like. So I went back and forth on whether or not I would go for months. Then, just by coincidence I wound up reading Questlove's book and got all hyped up to see them, no matter what. I'm glad I did.

By now, anyone that's into watching late night TV is probably at least aware of what a wide range of talent there is in The Roots. I don't watch the show, but I'm sure what they bring to Late Night With Jimmy Fallon is unlike any other band in the history of late night talk shows. I'm sure if your not familiar with what they do it would seem odd to have a hip hop band as the house band for a show like that, but The Roots are - well, it's not that they aren't hip hop or that they are more than just hip hop, as much as that they are about the real foundations of hip hop, not the false stereotypes that often dominate popular culture. They are about music, pure and simple. And just how hip hop beatmakers might sample records from any genre, The Roots as a band will play music from any genre as well. And while that doesn't necessarily make a band talented on it's own, the way they do it, the way they can make it all fit - jazz, R&B, funk, rock, hip hop, blues - is really something that needs to be seen live to be truly appreciated.

They hit the stage and it was instant funk with "Me and Baby Brother" by War. Right off: the bass. We were right up front and I felt the bass in my chest, in my gut, and my hair was like a field of grass being rustled by the low end breeze. And yet, it wasn't over everything else like a shitty trunk rattling car on the street. It was all loud and crisp. Any concerns I had about the sound at a festival were gone. "Me and Baby Brother" flowed into Bobby Byrd's "I Know You Got Soul" and two things ran through my mind: 1. Holy shit this is awesome and 2. Black Thought is not just a rapper or even an MC: he's a funk frontman also. I came to the show because of the musicians with instruments: the band, if you will. I knew Black Thought was talented, don't get me wrong. But man, watching him spit ridiculously complex rhymes, intelligibly in a live setting, singing, dancing and generally working the crowd without ever seeming out of breath was a revelation to me. The energy level never dropped and I was just wondering if this dude who I believe is a few years older than me would come on the mic gasping for air. It never happened.

The whole band was insanely awe inspiring, really, but a special mention MUST be made for Damon Bryson, AKA Tuba Gooding, Jr. This man was jumping around with a fucking tuba on his shoulder like, well, nothing I've ever seen really. He was matching everything Capt. Kirk Douglas was doing, down to jumping off the bass drum at the end, but Douglas was just holding a guitar. And of course, there was Questlove. He tells a story in the book about how, because his parents didn't let him listen to Prince, he'd listen on headphones while practicing his drums. Except, to throw them off, he'd listen to Prince while playing something different on the drums. He says this like it's nothing in the book, completely blowing past the point of how hard that has to be to do and how that had to have either taught him or developed his sense of rhythm and flat out multitasking in  a way that is unheard of. I've sat behind a drum kit and granted, I have no training, but the coordination it takes to just be adequate is beyond me. At the level he's playing at, which isn't flashy, it's an act that seems magical, really. 

The momentum did drop for one moment in the middle when they let Jeremy Ellis do an extended DJ/beatbox beat that included a tribute to Prince. I don't want to take anything away from Ellis. What he does seems like it's not a lot, but it absolutely is not that simple. I get it. It's a talent. But after a couple of minutes it felt like a DJ club set and I just wanted the band back on. Once they came back it felt like some of the momentum had been dissipated and it took a little bit for them to get it back. At the same time, it was hot and they had been playing nonstop so I imagine it's a good time to take a break so they can catch their breath.

It was a little weird to be out in the heat watching what I kind of wish had been a club or at least small theater show. We were right up front by the stage, but it being so high up and with the phenomenon of concert goers growing taller in recent years*, it was still a lot of neck strain and discomfort and being old. None the less, it really says something that I would do it again for The Roots. I'd see them anywhere now that I really know how they are live. And I would recommend not missing them any chance you get. You don't like hip hop, you say? Well, see them anyway. Trust me. In the meantime, a close approximation is the complete set from Saturday, shot by CHeeSeHeaDPRoDuCTioNS.

*I'm thinking of doing a study to prove how concert goers are not only getting taller, but how a tall fucks level of tallness is directly correlated to their level of being a rude asshole who stands in front of people as if they weren't even there. Science!

Music Book: Mo Meta Blues

As much as I love music of all kinds and actually know a little something about a lot of it, I'm not as hardcore as I wish I was sometimes. It's mostly because I just didn't have the access I would have liked growing up, but also I just have too many other interests that have sucked me in from movies to comics so I haven't been as single minded on any one thing, though music is the closest. But as a result, I have always had a bit of a hero worship thing of true music connoisseurs. I would love to be able to rattle off random, obscure facts about rare records and songs. I can do it a bit, but not enough. But what I don't like are music snobs. What I aspire to be is the type of music lover that truly gets the point of music, all music: the connection to humanity and the expression of that which cannot be expressed. For some time, I've recognized that knowledge of records that is beyond just nerdy obsession in Questlove of The Roots and his book, Mo' Meta Blues: The World According to Questlove is proof that he embodies that my ideal.

Quest's early life was somewhat unique and set up to develop a music nerd from the start. For starters his parents were both performers. But on top of that, and almost more importantly, his parents, sister and aunt were all record collectors who were constantly buying and playing all kinds of music around the house. Much of the first half of the book is framed around specific records he remembers from those early years and how his memories are all just tied to music. That part absolutely made this sing for me as I've mentioned how my parents would play records, mostly on Sundays. How that evolved for Quest is a bit different than for me though. While I also had the musician itch from early on, having a guitar and an organ and later keyboards around, I never had lessons or any sort of discipline around any of it. I think missed out on that to this day. Now in the house we have guitars, drums, keyboards and even a piano and my daughters are free to experiment, but there will be more formal lessons at some point soon.

The book has a meta level to it, hence the title, in which there are conversations with his editor, his manager, himself and others about the book, the events being discussed, and everything. Several times the idea that memory isn't an objective document of the truth comes into play, but it's all framed by the music of that moment. And once we get to The Roots existence as a band and the success that follows, in fits and starts, we get some great behind the scenes stories with a unique perspective. There are a couple of Prince stories, who was quite likely Quest's biggest hero. It's interesting to me that while he never really loses that fan perspective of Prince, he also is quite balanced when talking about him.

All in all, I really loved this book. Aside from just connecting with it because of a shared love of music with a guy that I probably don't have much else in common with, it's got me reevaluating and rediscovering a lot of hip hop and R&B I overlooked or forgot about for reasons I can't even explain.

Perfect Songs - My Mind is Playing Tricks on Me

If I tell you a song is about paranoia, hallucinations, loss of sleep, suicidal thoughts and general anxiety, you're probably going to think it's either metal, punk or some 90s emo grunge thing. And that is probably one of the reasons this particular song sticks out to me. As we know I'm not a connoisseur of the genre, so I can't say for sure whether or not any other hip hop song has covered this ground as well (aside from Eminem who clearly owes his entire career to the existence of Geto Boys as far as I can tell). Either way, "My Mind is Playing Tricks on Me" is a perfect song unlike any other.

This is one of only a few hip hop songs I can rap along to almost the whole way through, though only when I'm alone because I have no illusions of my abilities. The whole damn thing is brilliant, but of course you can't shake Bushwick Bill's whole "This year Halloween fell on a weekend" story. And that's a big part of what makes this thing work so well is that it's these 3 stories that are told to us, not as a way of glamorizing anything, but as confessions of these horrible events that these guys went through. It's all about how their lifestyles are weighing on them mentally to the point of actual insanity and yet it doesn't shy away from or condemn the reality of the lifestyle either. It's not preachy or condescending or any of that. It just is. That's huge when you consider this came out in 1991just as "Gangsta" rap was reaching a cultural peak. Or maybe these are just sort of like scary stories one would tell around a campfire if one were a gangsta and aren't meant to be taken literally at all. I don't know which it is, but they're evocative and effective in both instances.

Look, it would be real easy to try to go into a whole thing about race and politics with this, I'm sure. But it's not gonna happen here because I'm not the guy to do it. Instead I'll tell you how great the Isaac Hayes sample is in this and how much I love the way Willie D. says "I live by the sword," pronouncing the W like it's a sworn oath. I love how these stories that are so dark and distant from my own experience are somehow so relatable because they focus on the very human aspect of the mind itself. And that relatability of other experiences, usually from the street, is kind of the point of hip hop, isn't it? See, I wound up getting a little political about it anyway. Whatever, just go sit alone in a four cornered room, stare at some candles and play this shit. God damn, homie, this song is fucking perfect.