3 Strikes Turns 2 Edition

1. Penitentiary- Citizen Cope

• "Well I'm waiting on the day, when the people walk free to see, when the penitentiary is on fire." Clarence Greenwood (aka Citizen Cope) is an alternative singer songwriter with a hip hop sensibility."Penitentiary" comes from the 2004 album "The Clarence Greenwood Recordings". It's not one of my favorite songs from the album, but "The Clarence Greenwood Recordings" is pretty solid throughout. I'm not sure if "Penitentiary" is meant to be a political statement, but why not take an opportunity to hijack this music blog with political commentary. The American privatized for-profit prison industry is the best example of modern slavery in the US. Conviction rates and sentence lengths go up (even as crime goes down) to fuel the supply of free labor that makes products for everyday people like you and me. This is big business. I feel better now so let's get back to the music. My favorite Citizen Cope moment is his reggae cover of Radiohead's "Karma Police" with the Easy Star All Stars. Speaking of Citizen Cope and reggae; the Wailers (as in Bob Marley & The Wailers) will be at the World Cafe in Wilmington this Wednesday night and Citizen Cope will make an appearance next month. If you're from the area and haven't been to the World Cafe at the Queen theatre in Wilmington you should check it out- you just might see me there.

2. Breathe And Stop- Q-Tip

• "Breathe and stop, for real and give it what you got, and just uhh, breathe and stop, for real and give it what you got." On his 1999 solo debut "Amplified", ex- A Tribe Called Quest emcee Q-Tip scored a pair of hits with "Vivrant Thing" and "Breathe And Stop". It's good stuff but wouldn't it sound even better if Q-Tip was trading versus with Phife Dawg on these tracks? Looking back at the "Vivrant Thing" and "Breathe And Stop" videos I'm reminded just how hot the girls are in them, but also how the objectification of these hip hop video girls is so un-tribe like. A Tribe Called Quest epitomized the afro-centric/conscious/positive vibe synonymous with the Native Tongues collective. These could be P-Diddy or Jay-Z videos. In any event the songs are tight. Given the success of "Amplified" I'm surprised that Q-Tip has only released two other major label albums. I'm also not sure why A Tribe Called Quest fell apart but I should have my answers soon. A documentary on the legendary group called "Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest" will hit the theatres on July 8th. Q-Tip has already distanced himself from the film but I'm anxious to check it out.

3. Tomorrow- Ryan Adams

• "Pulled into the station, and they're playing Waylon Jennings, when you're driving through so late at night, you'll see the lights are blinding." Ryan Adams released "Demolition" in 2002 as a follow up to his 2001 ode to classic rock "Gold". "Demolition" collects songs recorded for a handful of unreleased albums- "The Suicide Handbook Sessions", "48 Hours" and "The Pinkheart Sessions". "Demolition" was critically reviewed as a mixed bag, and while that may be fair, there are a number of great songs in the collection. "Tomorrow" is an acoustic duet with Gillian Welch that couldn't be much slower or more gorgeous. The song was co-written by Adam's girlfriend Carrie Hamilton (daughter of Carol Burnett) who died of cancer in 2002. If you love a heartfelt folk/country duet in the tradition of Gram Parsons & Emmylou Harris or what The Civil Wars are doing these days then "Tomorrow" is for you. It's a shame that so much of the source material that "Demolition" draws from remains unreleased. "The Suicide Handbook Sessions" in particular is as good (if not better) than anything Adams has released.

1. The Grand Finale- The D.O.C.

• "(Ice Cube) Picture a n*gga that's raw, amplify his ass and what you see is what's on, motherf*ckers I slaughter, blow em out the water. (The D.O.C.) The D.O. to the C knowing the formula, it's rough, I mean it's funky enough. I got raw when I came to Cali, now I'm with N.W.A on the motherf*cking grand finale." With N.W.A. in tow, The D.O.C. ends his masterful 1989 solo debut album "No One Can Do It Better" with "The Grand Finale". The posse cut features verses from Ice Cube, MC Ren, Eazy-E, The D.O.C. and vocals from Dr. Dre, who produced the album. The D.O.C. helped bring lyricism to the West Coast. While he was very much a part of the N.W.A. crew he never relied on profanity in his vocals. The D.O.C. had a very promising career that was tragically cut short-after "No One Can Do It Better" was released, The D.O.C. was in a car accident that crushed his larynx (vocal chords). His voice was permanently altered into a gravely monotone. Though featured on Dr. Dre's "The Chronic" and used as a song writer for Dre and Snoop his solo career was effectively over after the car crash. "The Grand Finale" serves as a "lost" N.W.A. song, as good as anything they ever recorded. Hearing Dr. Dre giving a shout out to "the super-dope manager" Jerry Heller is particularly hilarious as he became a central figure in the demise of N.W.A.

2. The Seeker (live)- Pete Townshend

• "I asked Bobby Dylan, I asked The Beatles, I asked Timothy Leary, but he didn't help me either, they call me the seeker, I've been searching low and high, I won't get to get what I'm after, till the day I die." Recorded as a single (post "Tommy" and pre "Who's Next") "The Seeker" wound up on the 1971 compilation "Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy". It was included in the 1994 four disc "Maximum R&B" box set but doesn't appear on any current single-disc The Who greatest hits collections, making it a bit of a "lost gem". The height of the song's exposure (aside from it's brief time on the charts in 1970) was it's inclusion in the 1999 film "American Beauty". "The Seeker" is The Who at their best and the song's title alone embodies so much of what Townshend wrote about for years- the quest for things like identity and spiritual salvation. Of course this is the same guy that wrote "Long Live Rock", but who doesn't love mindless rock from time to time? This particular version of "The Seeker" is from "The Oceanic Concerts" album featuring Pete Townshend and harpist Raphael Rudd. Here we find Townshend alone on acoustic guitar and the results are outstanding. If the Timothy Leary reference is lost on you, I'd recommend that you tune in, turn on, and drop out.

3. You & Me- Dave Matthews Band

• "...and then when we get to the ocean, we gonna take a boat to the end of the world, all the way to the end of the world, oh and when the kids are old enough, we're gonna teach them to fly." Soooo good. In the Dave Matthews catalogue, I'd put "You & Me" alongside "Crash Into Me" in the "this song just gave me goosebumps" category. Who knew that taking a boat to the end of the world could sound so romantic? In reality the journey would be anything but a picnic and I doubt there's much in the way of amenities when you get there. Jokes aside, "You & Me" is gorgeous and does a great job of closing out the "Big Whiskey And The GrooGrux King" album. I tried to learn how to play this song- I found the guitar part fairly simple and singing the lyrics while playing it fairly impossible. I guess that's why I have a day job. The Dave Matthews Band announced that they would take a break from touring in 2011 only to later announce a series of 3 day "Caravan" shows this summer. I'll be in Atlantic City this June for what should be 3 amazing days of music. This will take my modest DMB show count from 8 to 11. I guess I'm a fan.

1. Friends- Whodini

• "Friends...how many of us have them, friends...ones we can depend on, friends...how many of us have them, friends...before we go any further, let's be friends." There is no mistaking Whodini's "Friends" as mid 80's hip hop. The production dates it fairly instantly- the simple beat and the synth bass are telling you the year is 1984. If that doesn't do the trick the lyrical flow will cement the fact. All that being said there is a keyboard part so good that sounds like it could have come out of Wu Tang Clan's "C.R.E.A.M". It has been sampled in a number of hip hop songs including the 1996 NaS hit "If I Ruled The World (Imagine That)". Whodini was on top of their game in 1984 with the release of "Escape"- the album that gave us "Friends", "Big Mouth" and "The Freaks Come Out At Night". I can remember being on the playground in elementary school and hearing someone rap all the words to "Big Mouth". I'm not sure I ever heard the song on the radio and I didn't have the tape, yet I knew the song. This past weekend I was acting as a tour guide in Philadelphia for an out-of-town friend . Upon passing the Gallery Mall I asked my friend is she remembered the song "Parent's Just Don't Understand". Not only did she remember it, but she broke out an entire verse on demand. Kinda makes you nostalgic for the old school lyrical era of hip hop.

2. On and On- Girl Talk

• "(Notorious B.I.G.) Uhh, I go on and on and then take her to the crib and let your bone in, easy, call em on the phone and, platinum Chanel cologne and, I stay dressed to impress, spark these b*tches interest." Have you ever wondered what it would sound like to have Eric Clapton/Cream collaborate with Biggie Smalls? Well, Gregg Gillis (the DJ known as Girl Talk) must have and I'm glad he did. The results are quite good. The Girl Talk formula is to mash up songs from a wide range of disparate genres into something surprisingly cohesive. In 2008's "Feed The Animals" the samples were coming fast and furious from all directions. In his latest work, 2010's "All Day" (where "On and On" is found) things are less dense and the samples are allowed a bit more time to stretch out and breathe. There are a number of brilliant moments on "All Day"- Ludacris paired with Black Sabbath, Joe Jackson teamed with Lil Wayne (the Joe Jackson "Steppin' Out" sample is so good it manages to make Lil Wayne sound good) and the aforementioned combination of Cream and B.I.G , but on the whole I don't think "All Day" matches "Feed The Animals".

3. Black Country Woman- Led Zeppelin

• "You didn't have to make me a total disgrace, you didn't have to leave me with that beer in my face, hey hey mama, what's the matter here, that's alright, it's awful dog-gone clear." If Led Zeppelin only played amped up blues rock I may be inclined to agree with Homer Simpson's assessment that Jimmy Page is "the greatest thief of American black music who ever walked the Earth." A number of early Zeppelin tunes "borrowed" from blues without any citation. However, it turns out that Page and company also explored English folk music and it was the fusing of these two dominant influences that made their music original and interesting. "Black Country Woman" is a great example of this duality...it's acoustic and folky but with a blues sensibility. It comes courtesy of the band's 1975 double album "Physical Graffiti". The album is best known for the song "Kashmir". I don't recommend sleep deprivation or casual drug use but if you're into that sort of thing "Kashmir" is a good companion song to help you lose track of the space/time continuum. This past weekend I found myself in my car listening to the radio (I only do this on short drives) and both 93.3 WMMR and 94.1 WYSP were playing "Kashmir" at the same time. Thank you Philadelphia rock radio for running this band into the ground.