Turkey Shoot 2012 & The Coup Review
Jim and Greg take down the worst musical turkeys of the year in our annual Thanksgiving Turkey Shoot. Plus they review the new record from Oakland-based agit-rappers The Coup.
Music News
Cassette tapes aren't just for boutique indie labels anymore. At least that's what IBM is betting. The company has developed a tiny cassette tape that can store up to 35 terabytes of data, and it's touting it as the "new" green technology. Unlike server farms, researchers point out, tape at rest consumes zero energy. Need more proof the cassette's not dead? Greg suggests taking a gander at the rare Radiohead cassettes currently up on eBay.
Well, it's official: '90s nostalgia has arrived. CBS just announced the development of new sitcom, Smells Like Teen Spirit. The show follows a young entrepreneur as he tries to launch an internet startup with help from his "1990's indie rock parents." Which got us thinking - what other alt-era hits could be re-purposed as TV pilots? Coming to a station near you, the hilarious rom com Black Hole Sun? Or the detective show Losing My Religion?
Turkey Shoot
Thanksgiving is just around the corner, which means it's time for Sound Opinions' annual Turkey Shoot. These aren't just bad records, they're bad records from artists that are capable of better. Nothing stings like disappointment, and these were the biggest musical disappointments of 2012:
Greg
- WZRD, WZRD
- Dead Can Dance, Anastasis
- Gary Clark, Jr., Blak and Blu
Jim
- Damon Albarn, Dr Dee
- Fiona Apple, The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than the Driver of the Screw and Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do
- Green Day, ¡Uno!
Listeners
Everyone’s a critic, so Jim and Greg turn the rifle over to the listeners:
- Yann in Paris, France: The Shins, Port of Morrow
- Brandon in Cuba, New York: Smashing Pumpkins, Oceania
- Jon in Madison, Wisconsin: Kiss, Monster
Sorry to Bother You The Coup
Jim and Greg have their fingers crossed that Sorry to Bother You, the sixth album from Oakland-based hip-hop group The Coup, isn't a turkey. This band has been making consistently good agit-rap records since 1991, Greg says, but they remain best known for an unfortunate incident involving their cover art. Does the band deliver on Sorry to Bother You? Jim says yes. He wouldn't blame you for mistaking "The Magic Clap" for a new OutKast party anthem. The Coup has verged dangerously close to Rage Against the Machine self-righteousness in the past, he says, but on Sorry to Bother You, the band's got the "party to politics" ratio just right. Greg agrees and calls it the best Coup album yet. Sorry to Bother You gets a double Buy It.
Greg
Soul singer Cody Chesnutt has a new album out, reminding Greg that he's often left off the list of masterful vocalists. This is most evident on his 2002 album The Headphone Masterpiece. In fact, The Roots were such fans they re-worked his song "The Seed" into "The Seed (2.0)." and released it as part of their album Phrenology. Greg takes it with him to the desert island this week.
Featured Songs
- Nirvana, "Smells Like Teen Spirit," Nevermind, DGC, 1991 (0:31)
- Ohio Players, "Jive Turkey," Skin Tight, Mercury, 1974 (0:48)
- WZRD, "Dr. Pill," WZRD, Universal Republic, 2012 (2:03)
- Damon Albarn, "A Man of England," Dr Dee, Parlophone, 2012 (1:24)
- Dead Can Dance, "Towards the Within," Into the Labyrinth, 4AD, 1993 (0:15)
- Dead Can Dance, "Children of the Sun," Anastasis, PIAS Recordings, 2012 (1:25)
- Johnny Cash, "Thanks a Lot," single, Sun Records, 1959 (2:17)
- Wilco, "The Thanks I Get," single, self-released, 2007 (0:41)
- Kiss, "All for the Love of Rock and Roll," Monster, Universal Music Group, 2012 (0:52)
- The Smashing Pumpkins, "One Diamond, One Heart," Oceania, EMI, 2012 (0:54)
- The Shins, "No Way Down," Port of Morrow, Aural Apothecary/Columbia Records, 2012 (0:54)
- Fiona Apple, "Periphery," The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than the Driver of the Screw and Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do, Epic, 2012 (1:27)
- Gary Clark Jr., "Things Are Changin'," Blak and Blu, Warner Bros. Records, 2012 (1:06)
- Green Day, "Troublemaker," !Uno!, Reprise, 2012 (1:22)
- Thelonius Monk, "Stuffy Turkey," It's Monk's Time, Columbia, 1964 (1:02)
- The Coup, "Strange Arithmetic," Sorry to Bother You, ANTI-, 2012 (0:19)
- The Coup, "The Magic Clap," Sorry to Bother You, ANTI-, 2012 (1:22)
- The Coup, "Your Parents' Cocaine," Sorry to Bother You, ANTI-, 2012 (0:14)
- The Roots, "The Seed (2.0)," Phrenology, MCA/Geffen, 2002 (2:22)
- Lou Reed, "New York Telephone Conversation," Transformer, RCA, 1972 (0:29)
- James Brown, "(Call Me) Super Bad," Revolution of the Mind, Polydor, 1971 (0:23)
- Kendrick Lamar, "The Art of Peer Pressure," good kid, m.A.A.d. city, Aftermath, 2012 (0:42)
- U2, "Gloria," Under a Blood Red Sky, Island, 1983 (0:40)
Dear Listeners,
For more than 15 years, Sound Opinions was a production of WBEZ, Chicago's public radio station. Now that the show is independent, we're inviting you to join the band and lend a hand! We need your support more than ever because now we have to do all the behind-the-scenes work that WBEZ handled before (like buying insurance and paying for podcast hosting, ugh). Plus, we have some exciting ideas we'd like to try now that there's no one to tell us no!