Music's 3R's 03.29.10: Jimi Hendrix Sex Tape, Christina Aguilera Returns, Beyonce Not Pregnant, More

Posted by Aaron Titan on 03.29.2010

From news of Scott Wieland recording separately from STP and drunkenly ruining a live show to a sex tape featuring Jimi Hendrix; Christina Aguilera, Dead Weather, and Korn's new singles; Beyonce denying pregnancy rumors; and a recap of last week’s American Idol, 411's Aaron Titan brings you all the Right, wRong, and Ridiculous in the music world in this week’s Music 3R’s.



Greetings: Yo! What's crankin' 411 Nation?! Aaron Titan here with the Music 3R's. I'm reporting from Cleveland, OH with the column this week, the first time I've brought the column on the road since I started last August.

I took the week off of work for this vacation – yeah, I know, vacationing in Cleveland! Got here on Friday and have been having an awesome time with my buddy who attends Case Western. We went downtown today to see his campus and some sights, went drinkin' at night at a great establishment called The Winking Lizard, are going to the Cavs-Kings game this (it's Sunday as I write this) afternoon, and then watching Wrestlemania XXVI at his place. Having sent this column to press before the PPV, I can't give any of the music/wrasslin' fans my impressions of the PPV now, but I will next week before I attend Monday Night RAW live (look for me in my Hardy Boyz motocross jersey).

Anyways, here's some photos from my first full-day in Cleveland. I didn't include pics from the game, because I went to press with this before we left for the Quicken-Loans Arena.


A cool shot from the car when we drove through downtown Cleveland in the morning


The Cleveland Art Institute: We saw a great gallery of Native American art as well as works by Picasso, O'Keefe, Warhol, Matisse, Dali, and several other greats. The giant Warhol piece of Marilyn Monroes was my favorite of the day.


A shot of frosty Lake Erie.


Some Cavs décor at the Winking Lizard. The Rum Runner cocktail I had last night is still running through me!


Today, we're hitting the Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame and seeing more of downtown. Tuesday, I drive to my girlfriend's and then to my parents' for the Easter holiday. Basically taking the world tour this week! Shit might be a little brief this week, but heck, I'm doing this on the little vacation I get this year. Them's the breaks!



Oh, and let's talk literature for a second. I'm about 100 pages away from finishing Anthony Kiedis' autobiography Scar Tissue. I highly recommend this book. It details the ascent of the Red Hot Chili Peppers as one of the greatest alternative rock bands of all time. Anthony also chronicles his trials with substance abuse in a truly honest light. Right now, I'm at the part of the tale where John Frusciante just left the band and they replaced him with Dave Navarro of Jane's Addiction and Anthony fell back into old habits with heroin and freebasing. Extremely good read and it really gives you the real deal story as far as I can tell.

And with that, here's your Opus of the Week…



Opus of the Week: Dr. Dre - 2001

First of all, I feel a little old when I see that this album is over ten years old now, as despite the title, it came out in 1999. I'm a carer of music though, as my CD copy of it still plays like clockwork.

So, I packed a shit ton of music in my little CD holder for my Cleveland road trip this weekend. I put a request on my Facebook, asking friends to recommend different music to me for the trip and I would download it. I got several suggestions and downloaded a lot of different things: Helloween, Oceanship, Pink, Paul Simon, Brad Paisley, Queensryche, Yellowcard…

So I packed a bunch and listened to a bunch, but having packed a lot of my own music, I decided to yank out my copy of 2001 and jam that shit from start to finish. There's a reason people are going to keep talking about Dr. Dre long after he's gone. Dude's one of the best producer not just in hip-hop, but in music – ever. He's knows what sounds pleasing to the human ear and then some.

I also like this album, because it was a return to classic form for Dre after trying to cleaner image thing for a bit there (think "Been There Done That") and then laying incredibly low and just producing Eminem and others. Here, I got to revisit the Dr. Dre shit that I fell in love with on The Chronic album: cars with hydrolics, Compton, the stickiest of the icky, and lots of fine (and some not so fine) women. If you haven't rocked 2001 in a while, I encourage you to replay that and remember how awesome Detox is going to be once it drops in like…I dunno, 2017 or something.

Titan's Key Tracks: "Still D.R.E.," "What's the Difference," "Forgot About Dre," "The Message"





Opus of the Week Backlog:
03/22/10: Cypress Hill: Black Sunday
03/15/10: Maxwell: BLACKsummers'night
03/08/10: Queens of the Stone Age: Songs for the Deaf
03/01/10: Adele: 19
02/22/10: The Ting Tings: We Started Nothing
02/15/10: Nirvana: Bleach
02/08/10: Down: NOLA
02/01/10: Dixie Chicks: Taking the Long Way
01/25/10: Lamb of God: Ashes of the Wake
01/18/10: The Clash: London Calling



The Column

For those unfamiliar with the 3R's concept, here's the breakdown. I will be reporting and commenting on happenings in the music world and categorizing all the hoopla into three sections: the Right, the wRong, and the Ridiculous. The Right will feature news, albums, and announcements music-related that I'm personally stoked about. The wRong will be the bad versions of all three of the aforementioned. The Ridiculous is the worst of it all, that which makes good ol' Mr. Titan shake his head in perplexing amazement.

The Right



New Dead Weather: The new Dead Weather single "Die By the Drop" from their upcoming sophomore album Sea of Cowards (due in early May) dropped last week. Here you go:





Sounds about like I expected their sophomore album to sound: crisper, heavier, and bolder. The band had to get to know each other as performers and the first album and tour accomplished that. Now that they're feeling like a band and not a side project, they can get down to brass tax and if "Die By the Drop" is any indication, I think they're going to blow Horehound out of the water.

I mean, that album was good for what it was, but it wasn't great. I thought Alison Mosshart's vocals were a little shaky and the mood of the album was kind of conflicted and random at points. There was a lot of room left for improvement and I think that's exactly what's going to happen on Sea of Cowards.

Not much more to say than that. I pretty much put this in because there's nothing else this week I can file under the "Right" section. Oh, check this awesome Dead Weather comedy video out. It's a must-see and L.J. comes out of his shell a little bit:





Beyonce's not Pregnant: There were a lot of rumors online last week that Beyonce was pregnant with her and Jay-Z's first child. Now Beyonce's rep is vehemently denying that's at all true. A soap box, if you will, about the tabloids:

Fuck the tabloids. Fuck TMZ and fuck any other tabloid. They make money off of other people's personal lives that they no business snooping around in to begin with. So what if Beyonce is pregnant? How does that impact your life outside of the fact that somebody whose music you may listen to or read about in equally shitty magazines like People is having a baby? It doesn't, but there's a lot of people out there who live and die by what other famous people are doing. I do my best to keep this column about the music, though occasionally, I, like others, throw my two cents in about the public doings of musicians. Usually, it's to say that they're acting "ridiculous" and that behavior interferes with my enjoyment of their music and what they're selling.

But my point is that I saw this headline one too many times over the course of my week researching topics for the column. Who cares if she's pregnant or not?! Say what you will about Beyonce, but I can at least respect her on two fronts. She can legitimately sing and dance, and she tries to keep her personal life out of public view. She isn't selling tons of interviews and gossip like a lot of other celebs will. Kudos to her for that!

You've got assholes like TMZ out there making millions of dollars stalking celebrities and asking stupid, ignorant questions to try and provoke them and create a controversy that will sell. It made me sick to see how much they badgered Travis Barker when he was with his daughter and then acted all surprised that he and his boys wanted to kick the shit out of them. Go figure, right?

Any chance I get to watch Beyonce in this video, I will take it. Here we go!





The wRong


Cover art for the new self-titled STP album due in May

Just When We Thought Scott Wieland was Normal Again:

After hearing the new Stone Temple Pilots single, I was kind of excited for the new album. And don't get me wrong, I still am, but like, I want a reunion album to be a happy affair, especially having dug that band for a long as I have. I'm already starting to raise my suspicious eyebrows at Scott Wieland here. According to STP bassist Robert DeLeo, the band recorded their whole new self-titled album completely separate from Scott Wieland (who was produced by Don Was). Here's what DeLeo tells Billboard:

"This record was made in a way that Scott wasn't really there for the creation of these songs, musically. We kind of guessed our way through it. It was challenging because we had to get as much as we could done to complete a song, but then we had to hold back 'cause we had to see if it was in the right key and stuff like that. The songs that were sent over to [Weiland] were pretty much in a completed demo form with a scratch melody on there, and Scott has the option to use the melody or not."

"But, y'know, we've been a band for 18 years now -- more like 23, before we were signed. There's a certain understanding you have where you know what the other person is going to like and dislike and you know what's going to work. So even though it is challenging and you're not in the same room, to me it's a great achievement being able to write and produce and do this record the way we did. I'm very, very proud of that."

"Scott came over to [STP drummer] Eric [Kretz]'s studio two or three times, and Don was responsible for...sitting down with the band and kind of getting us together on the same page. Don's very good at doing that. He's a people person. And I think sometimes you need someone in the middle to bring the ends together, so to speak, and Don did that."

If you need a guy to get the whole band in the same room to work on tunes, you're really not a band. You're a business model doing a job. This tells me that the band is already getting sick of each other after the lengthy reunion tour (that I was lucky enough to catch in the summer of 2008). I remember watching the Behind the Music episode about Pantera. When Phil Anselmo was starting to get pretty far gone, they did the exact same thing STP's doing now. The band did their recording in Texas while Phil did his vocals in New Orleans (if memory serves me correctly).

Now, The Great Southern Trendkill (the Pantera album I'm referencing) is a bitchin' album and I'm not saying that STP's self-titled reunion affair won't be good too, but like, this reunion tour seems to be about the money at this point, not the love of being together as a band again.

What the hell could Scott be too busy doing that he can't be in the studio with his band more than two or three times? Getting clean? Not fucking likely (he's supposed not using drugs anymore but still drinks; not condemning him, but he's got some track record working against him). Treating his wife well and spending time with her? Nah! Look, all I'm saying is that Scott Wieland will always be Scott Wieland, so while this STP album might be good just based on the talent of the players involved, the whole reunion deal seems to be a pose for the most part.

Speaking of awesome Scott Wieland behavior, here's a video of Scott losing his balance and falling off the stage in Sioux City, IA, last week:





Now I'm not saying that he was wasted…

OK, maybe he was.

Lending credibility to that end, here's a fan report from STP's concert at Milwaukee's great concert hall, The Rave/Eagle's Ballroom. I'm actually pissed off that Scott fucked up here, because this is a great venue that always draws a very passionate, spirited crowd of Midwesterners, many of which yours truly has been a part of. Here's the fan report I read [Credit: Blabbermouth.NET]:


"Although [Scott] sounded really slurry and rambling when talking between songs, he actually did a great job for most of the show. It was excellent and thoroughly enjoyable. And the DeLeos [brothers Dean and Robert DeLeo] didn't seem mad at him or anything. Dean actually came up and played his guitar with the neck stuck between Weiland's legs at one point."

"But... once they got to 'Dead and Bloated', partway in, Scott got completely lost and just seemed to forget the whole song, lyrics and melody. They tried to kind of go into a little jammy part to cover until they could get their bearings, but it just kind got more and more off track and Scott never seemed to be able to pick back up. So, Dean walks off to the side and switches guitars and they go into 'Lounge Fly'. Dean walked up to Scott and took out his ear monitor and said something into his ear."

"I thought, 'Oh maybe it's all just a technical issue with Scott's monitor and he's not wasted.' Scott seemed to start off okay, a little bit off, but then by the time they got to the acoustic section, he was behind the beat and sounded like a sloppy drunk guy singing at a wedding. The band kept trying to kind of pause and try to follow Scott or give him a chance to find the right part, but he just seemed to keep changing to different parts of the song. I saw Robert look at Dean and shake his head, as if to say, 'This isn't going to be salvagable' and then, finally, the Deleos took off their instruments and walked to the side of the stage."

"[Eric] Kretz kept drumming and Weiland seemed oblivious to the fact that there was no more guitar and bass. He keep kind of improvising on the melody and singing until Kretz played an ending-of-the-song kind of drum thing to try to signal to Scott to wrap it up, but he kept singing a bit after that. Then Kretz got up and walked right past Scott without looking at him or touching him, and off the stage on the same side that the DeLeos went. Scott finally then walked off stage on the other side."

"The lights went down and I really didn't think that they'd even try to do an encore. A little while later, Weiland walks back onstage and starts to introduce 'Piece of Pie'. The rest of the band comes on and Dean stops and says something in Scott's ear and then Scott drunkingly mumbles something like, 'No piece of pie for yooooou. This is 'Trippin''.' Then they go into 'Trippin'' and Scott seems to just barely be able to keep up with the song and seems to fall behind a bit."

"I thought it was odd though, that during these songs where everything was going wrong, Scott almost seemed oblivious to the fact that he was messing up. It's like he kept right on dancing and posing and singing like he thought he was doing great. He never looked embarrassed or frustrated. You'd think he would've tried to play it off by saying, 'Oops, I messed that up' or somehow acknowledge that the song got screwed up. He even said something, I think it was right before 'Dead And Bloated', about 'You might just be the best audience ever.' And Dean said something about 'Do you wanna play the Rave with us?'"

"Anyway, after 'Trippin'' the band starts to walk to the front of the stage to say their goodbyes and bow and everything. Dean is the first to get up front and I distinctly saw him mouth 'Sorry' to the audience and kind of wave. Then Weiland gets up front followed by Kretz and Robert and I was actually suprised that they all stood so close to Scott after all of this. But again, Weiland, seemed oblivious to the disaster. He's up there, head high like he just rocked the place, patting his hand over his heart, kind of like 'You guys are so great, I'm touched' and then does this dramatic salute."





Not good dudes, not good. It's one thing to ruin your relationship with Slash and company. People expect there to be dysfunction with those dudes in a way. To ruin your relationship with your bread-and-butter band, STP, and twice at that, would be really shameful. Hell, didn't your ex-wife write an entire book of your crazy exploits of being a bipolar addict? I know you've got your issues, but get it together or just live in satisfaction of the consistent radio play and album royalties you're getting. This isn't the way to start off the album cycle, because it'll be a long world tour at this rate partner.

The Ridiculous


The ‘Bionic' album cover; due out in June

Christina's Back: You know, after being a mom and getting married and seeing what the pop music scene is today, you would think Christina would come back and make something that wasn't imitating Lady Gaga. Well, if the lead single is any indication, I'd say we're in for another electronica/dance-oriented album of songs:





The sad part is that I respect Christina for her pipes. I was kind of looking forward to seeing what he could cook up and win Grammys with on the new album Bionic (due in June). It appears that she will win Grammys based on the crap they give awards to these days. Taylor Swift won Album of the Year after all! I guess I just wish somebody would try something that isn't sounding like Lady Gaga. I'm pretty over her now too, to be completely honest.

We've got this Kesha (I'm not typing that fucking dollar sign in her name) chick trying to be the next Gaga and a million others trying to make millions of dollars like she's done. This Christina single sounds like a less vocally manufactured version of what Lady Gaga has been trendsetting – not saying that in a positive or negative way, just an observatory way – in the industry for about two years now. Why somebody with the talent of Christina Aguilera needs to go there instead of doing her own thing is beyond me. In the MTV interview I read, she says, "Maybe I've been afraid in the past to allow myself to go to a place of ‘less singing.'" Now, she says, "I'm more vulnerable and more strong at the same time."

Sure ya' are kid. Sure ya' are.



Jimi Hendrix Sex Tape: Dude…





Dude…

Dude…

This bums me out kind of hard. On May 3rd, they're releasing Jimi Hendrix: The Story of the Lost Sex Tape on DVD. It contains 11 minutes of porn footage that feature Jimi in the flesh.

I just don't understand how you can do this to a legend who has passed away. He's not here to approve of this and frankly, nobody should be able to approve of a person being depicted in this kind of light except for that person themselves. There are some truly greedy and heartless people out there and all jokes aside, I'm deeply saddened that this tape is being allowed to see the light of day.

American Idol Recap: This was without the doubt the most predictable week of the contest to date. Paige Miles continued to be terrible and it was obvious she was going off on Wednesday.





Tim Urban continued his streak of douche-baggery, complete with the now imfamous knee slide while covering Queen's "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" almost note-for-note. Andrew Garcia continued to be lame and coasted by on a performance from the audition episodes that are almost a month old as well as his pitiful yet likable personality. The people who were good in the past were still good. Siobhan was good. Crystal rocked it out. Same old story pretty much.

Here's a good recap vid I found on YouTube:





Though I thought it ironic that the mentor they chose this week to help the performers sing better was a performer that has mad vocal issues of her own. I'm of course referring to Miley Cyrus. Watch that first video of Paige Miles getting eliminated above. Afterwards, it includes clips of the performance by Miley as well as the one by Joe Jonas and Demi Lavato.

Now, I saw the Jonas Brothers perform before an NFL game sometime either this season or last season and that dude just sucked terribly vocal-wise. Since then, he's gotten a bit better, so I can't rip him. Miley Cyrus though, telling Idol contestants that they're pitchy-sounding and then stretching for notes she can barely hit, if at all? That just doesn't cut it for me.

If you compare how she sounded live there to how she sounds on a studio recording, you can definitely tell just how manufactured and processed her voice has to be to sound passable on the radio. How come she gets to be so wealthy when I've got a college degree and struggle to pay my bills? HA!





Hasn't music kind of gone to that place these days a lot more so than in the past with the whole auto-tune thing going on and just a lot of electronic influence going on? Pro-Tools is the way of the future and that's fine because it enables artists to fuck around with a lot more sonically than was possible in the past. I'm all for pushing the boundaries.

I just worry we're getting away from bands and artists just playing straight up sometimes. That's why I love going to concerts so much and connecting with artists on that level when all the bells and whistles are thrown out the door and I can just see what the true essence of the band/artist is really about. Tool blew me away with their live talent. Metallica has done so twice as well. The Roots crew did shit with live hip-hop I never thought possible. Fuck man, Rage Against the Machine! What they do live in the studio is exactly what the fuck they pull off at a live show. I got to see them at their 2007 Alpine Valley gig as well as Lollapalooza in 2008.

I guess I've gotten to rambling now, so basically, my point here is that I'd like to see a more basic return to recording and playing music. Say what you will about Korn, but what they're doing on their upcoming album Korn III – Remember Who You Are is pretty interesting. They're using tape-reels to record their tracks rather than putting it all into the computer and dicing it up with Pro-Tools. I'm not sure how I feel about them reverting back to the Life Is Peachy and self-titled album sound they're going for, but I can respect their more organic recording approach this time around. Here's a music video of one of the new songs set to footage of them recording in the studio.





Hasta Luego: Well that's it for me this week. Places to go and people to see before I depart from tropical Cleveland. Cheers!

Soundtrack to the 3R's this week was played by the following artists…
Fall Out Boy – "This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race"
Dixie Chicks – "Landslide"
Yellowcard – "Ocean Avenue"
Stabbing Westward – "Falls Apart"
Wolfmother – "Apple Tree"
James Brown – "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag, Pt. 1"
Nickelback – "Rock Star"
Primus – "Those Damned Blue-Collar Tweekers"
Mos Def – "Freaky Black Greetings"
The Beatles – "I'll Follow the Sun"
Ween – "Blue Balloon"
Foo Fighters – "Have It All"
The Dead Weather – "Die By the Drop"
Saul Williams – "Black History Month"
Korn – "My Time"
Down – "Temptation's Wings"
Tool – "Jerk-Off [Live]"
Winger – "Seventeen"
Les Claypool – "Iowan Gal"
Saliva – "I Walk Alone [Batista Entrance Theme]"
Rage Against the Machine – "Down Rodeo"
Jay-Z f/ Lil' Wayne – "Hello Brooklyn 2.0"
Mercy Drive – "Burn Inside My Light [Randy Orton Entrance Theme]"