Jawbreaker – Bivouac [20th Anniversary Edition]

CD $12.98

LP $18.98

Unlike some of its alt-rock contemporaries (call it emo or whatever, Bivouac is firmly 1991 in sound), Jawbreaker’s Bivouac is ripe for reissue because A) it can’t be found in your average record store, B) it was overlooked during its time and C) it has aged better than your average album of the era. Beginning with the roaring “Shield Your Eyes,” the album still hits hard, thanks to Blake Schwarzenbach razor vocals and the band’s scrappy attack. “Chesterfield King” echoes the boozy swagger of their elders in The Replacements, while “Sleep’s” sheet of guitars and hushed melodies place them as both Husker Du’s heir and as a band making music akin to their shoegazing brethren across the pond. For new listeners, especially those interested in some of the roots of emo, the brutal “Parabola” and the title track, which balances delicate passages with high-octane chunks of ferocious noise for 10 breathtaking minutes, should be elucidating in and of themselves. If only emo had stayed as good as Bivouac, we’d all be better off! The LP has four fewer tracks than the CD (as it did in the original pressing); the Chesterfield King EP also is reissued, including those four tracks (“Tour Song,” “Face Down,” “You Don’t Know…” and “Pack it Up”).

Paul McCartney, Justin Bieber, and Game each share the experience of having been the targets of fake death hoaxes. Early this Monday morning rumors began circulating on various websites that rap star Game (pictured left & formerly known as The Game) had been shot and killed. In actuality, he hadn't, but these false rumors spread so rapidly that within hours the rapper's management had to issue a statement to dispel the untrue report. So, too, did the very much alive and well rap artist, who was in Sacramento Monday, when he tweeted, "If u gone [sic] spread rumors, b more creative. Say, I had a fight wit the Toy Story cast or sumn & it turned fatal ha ha.." But the ever shrewd rapper took it a step further by utilizing the incident as a prime opportunity to promote his forthcoming album. "My funeral is 8-24-10 @ da nearest Best Buy," he tweeted @ihategame.

While Game had one rumor of his apparent death, pop star Justin Bieber has been plagued by them. The sixteen year old Canadian singing sensation has been falsely pronounced dead a total of five times in the past year (all internet generated hoaxes), most recently on June 10th. 

The famous, urban legend scale "Paul is dead" celebrity death hoax about the supposed passing of Paul McCartney, began in 1969 with a claim that the Beatle had died a few years earlier in a car crash and had been replaced by a sound-alike/look-alike. Proof of his passing supposedly could be found by playing certain Beatles records backwards or analyzing various Beatles album art. "Paul is dead" was not only one of the most well constructed death hoaxes but also one of the most widely repeated (and believed) hoaxes in pop history.

                                        Ameoba Music Berkeley  Hip-Hop Top Five  09:19:08

1)  Michael Franti & Spearhead All Rebel Rockers   
     (Amer-I Can/Unity One/Anti)

2)  Diplo Top Ranking Santogold (Mad Decent)

3)  The Game LAX (Geffen/Interscope)

4) Young Jeezy The Recession (Def Jam)

5)  eLZhi The Preface (Fat Beats)

The number one selling album at the Berkeley store this week is from the Bay Area's very own veteran political musician Michael Franti and his group Spearhead. Recorded in Kingston, Jamaica and produced by Sly and Robbie, this brand new full length titled All Rebel Rockers is the anticipated follow-up to the acclaimed Yell Fire!, released two years ago on Anti. This new album may not possess that same sense of urgency as its predecessor and hence, takes a little longer to get into, but All Rebel Rockers is still a very good album. (Yell Fire! is a hard one to top because it was so powerful a release.) Naturally, with Sly & Robbie at the controls, it has more of a reggae feel than the other genres it incorporates (mainly hip-hop and soul). 

                             Amoeba Music Hollywood Hip-Hop Top FIve 09:12:08
1) The Game LAX (Geffen/Interscope)

2) Young Jeezy The Recession (Def Jam)

3) The Game LAX (deluxe edition) (Geffen/Interscope)

4) GZA Pro Tools (Baby Grande)

5) Lil Wayne Tha Carter III (Cash Money/Universal)

Special thanks to Marques at the Hollywood Amoeba Music for this week's top five hip-hop albums, which includes hometown artist The Game's new album LAX twice. "The number three on the chart version of The Game is the deluxe edition of LAX which has three extra songs on it," notes Marques of the second (more limited pressing) version of the album that also costs a bit more to purchase. Other chart entries include the recently released Young Jeezy album The Recession, Lil Wayne's current hot seller Tha Carter III (sure to be on many year end lists), and the latest from GZA, Pro Tools. Meanwhile GZA's Wu-Tang buddy RZA (who supplies some production on the guest heavy Pro Tools album) will be one of the many performers at the upcoming We The People Music, Arts, and Cultural Festival happening at Los Angeles State Historic Park (1245 N. Spring Street) on Saturday, September 27th. Others scheduled to perform include EPMD (pictured), Fishbone, DJ Premier, Les Claypool, Suicidal Tendencies, Z-Trip, Dilated Peoples, Eeek-A-Mouse, Barrington Levy, Bassnectar, Free The Robots, B-Side Players, Roots of Creation, Markus James, Look Daggers, Tom Morello, and Flying Lotus, whose recent Warp release Los Angeles is one of the best albums of 2008. 

Amoeba Music San Francisco Top FIve 09:06:08

1) Young Jeezy The Recession (Def Jam)

2) The Game LAX (Geffen/Interscope)

3) eLZhi Preface (Fat Beats)

4) The Jacka & Lee Majors The Gobots (Million Dollar Dream)

5) Arabian Prince Innovative Life: The Anthology: 1984 - 1989 (Stones Throw)

Thanks to Luis in the hip-hop section at Amoeba Music, San Francisco for this week's Top Five chart. The top slot belongs to the brand new release from Young Jeezy, The Recession, which hit Amoeba shelves on Tuesday this week. This is the third Jeezy album, following 2005's Lets Get It: Thug Motivation 101 and 2006's The Inspiration. Although the title The Recession might imply that the record would be all about the US economy (interest rates/foreclosures etc.), it only very, very briefly tackles the US economy at large. Instead, it concentrates more specifically on hood economics, i.e., drug dealing. Hence, The Recession, over some great beats, is brimming with (yawn) street tales of making cash and selling 'caine and the glorified day-to-day trials and tribulations of a gangsta. 

"All I got to my name is two bricks and one felony," raps Atlanta native Jeezy in his famous husky voiced, dirty south flow on the track "Crazy World" -- one of many detailing the struggles of the hustler lifestyle which, personally, I find tired and played out at this stage in the game. I mean is Young Jeezy keeping really real and rapping about his life as it really, or is he just trying to sell the most CDs? Does Jeezy really have to slang drugs on the corner after all his success in the rap music biz? Or is he just fronting by making up these played-out, over-romanticized drug dealing tales, geared for the target gullible white rap consumer? This is music manufactured for the wallet more than from the heart. With that said, I did enjoy most of the production, and also the album's few guests, including NaS, who upstaged his host here. I guess it's not so much the topic of gangsta but more in how an artist retells a story we've heard a million times already.