STILL My Favorite Band of '05

OK, I admit it: I might not be completely unbiased. But hey, if Mr. Leafblower can gush about Mylo, I'm allowed to do the same about Bloc Party, dammit!

At first glance, the idea to follow up Silent Alarm, an album that only dropped six months ago (and still far and away my favorite album of the year), with oh-so captivatingly titled Silent Alarm Remixed. After getting over the distaste that accompanies such an obvious cash-in record label bullshit move (really, I thought Bloc Party were above that), I was more interested in how this would sound.

Remixes by themselves are a tricky thing. The best of them tread the same line that cover songs do: The remixer has got to inject enough of their own particular style to make it interesting, yet it also has to retain enough of the original elements that made a song worth covering/remixing in the first place. Change too much and it's just a song by the remixer under another name; change too little and what's the point of even remixing the song in the first place?

Throw in the fact that, being that remix albums are like live albums and simple stop-gap-money grabs, and alot of time they are produced on the cheap. I can think of some great remix combinations that would be interesting to see (I might be the only one who thinks that the Secret Machines would sound wickedly bizarre remixed by Groove Armada), record labels don't think this way. They'd just assume that they get some guys who people may or may not have heard of, who are fairly cheap and can do the work quickly. Often times, you get a record that sounds like some stoned kid in his bedroom trying to be DJ Shadow or RjD2, and failing miserably.

Surprisingly, Silent Alarm Remixed succeeds a lot more often than most remix albums. Although some of the better songs have been released on various EPs and singles already (like the Phones Disco Edit of "Banquet," or Four Tet's take on "So Here We Are), its interesting to hear the track by track remake of the album. I've obviously listened to the original album numerous times, yet the best of these remixes manage to take the songs in different and interesting directions for me. The entire album kept my interest, and has more than the to be expected couple of complimentary spins from me.

Obviously, like I said, I'm biased, and this album is probably only interested to Bloc Party diehards, but be that as it may. Because they've also gone the extra length to release a brand new single, "Two More Years." My Lord... if this is what awaits in the follow up to Silent Alarm, we can all stop worrying about the Curse of the Wack Second Album right now. Because it retains all the things you love about Bloc Party (the groove, the charging drums, the swirling guitars), yet also shows just the right amount of progression to make it compelling. I'm really digging this right now.

And hey, in addition to another new track, "Hero," what else have we got here? Why, it's another remix! Although its more of a mash up than a true remix, the Banquet remix by Mike Skinner, a/k/a/ The Streets is hot fire. I'm a huge Streets fan (although I greatly prefer Original Pirate Material to A Grand Don't Come For Free), and hearing him spit his Joe Everyday lyrics over the Banquet break is pretty interesting and fun.

-- Also, really quick, since we're on the topic of favorite bands of mine: If anyone knows where I can find the leaked Thursday demos, please holla at me.

And do yourself a favor: Download Ghostface's "Be Easy" (here). It is ridiculously hot, and as my man Douglas notes, Pete Rock is truly destroying things right now, which is always good to see. Does this mean we can get a DJ Premier comeback going too, because I could really use a few of his rugged heat rocks right about now.

I Might Have A New Hero

From this past Sunday's Washington Post Magazine:

"Like Jane Scott, who retired a few years ago as the pop critic at the Cleveland Plain Dealer at age 82. Yes, 82. She was already in her forties when the Beatles came to town, and when she figured out that nobody at the paper had signed up to cover the event, she volunteered.

For parts of the next five decades, she went to hundreds of shows, always with her ticket pinned to her chest, so she wouldn't lose it, usually armed with a peanut butter sandwich in case she got hungry. She's met everyone -- Brian Wilson, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, to name just a few. When I asked her what kept her going, she brought up the Doobie Brothers, of all bands. At some point in the '70s, they came to town and toward the end of their set played that FM staple "Black Water." There's an a cappella moment in that song, and when it came, she explained, everyone in the building was locked arm in arm, swaying and singing.

"Until you've experienced that," she told me once, shaking her head, "you don't know anything."

For Scott, understanding the power of amplified pop was nothing short of the beginning of enlightenment."

Wow. That's one awesome lady.

Except for the Doobie Brothers. I don't quite get down like that. And I'm not so sure about the whole swaying and singing "Let's all be redeemed by the grand rock spectacle!" moment either.

But nevertheless, if I'm even alive at 82. you can bet your sweet ass I'm not gonna be rocking out at shows, packed sandwich or not.

So yeah, like I said: One awesome lady.