BLACK HELICOPTERS

The President is in town as I write this and as I sat in my car in rush hour traffic watching the black military helicopters circle above me I couldn't help but wonder what he was doing out here when another devastating hurricane is probably heading for the United States. But then again, Florida is governed by Bush Bro Jeb, so folks there will probably be all right. Batten down the hatches, stock up on the bottled water and pray for the end of hurricane season. And enjoy watching the photo ops of Bush at the Reagan Library on TV--until the power goes out.

New Album Reviews: Stevie Wonder & Franz Ferdinand

Stevie Wonder, A Time 2 Love (my grade: B) - I have to confess something...I've been crazy about Stevie Wonder since I was old enough to walk. I grew up with his classic 70's albums, Innervisions, Fulfillingness First Finale and Songs In The Key of Life (still the most ambitious soul album ever released). I hung with him through the uneven 80's, where his message songs still engaged the ear while his love ballads turned to syrup. The decades since have seen an increasingly sparse output--a guest harmonica appearance here, a random single there, only three new albums since 1987 of which A Time 2 Love, released this past Tuesday is the latest. Now in his mid-50's and faced with a hip-hop dominated marketplace that must at times bewilder him, it's unreasonable to expect Wonder to have to compete with his past. It's enough that he remains a true genius, a blind multiinstrumentalist blessed twofound with one of the great voices and best senses of melody of any music maker to come out of the 20th century. A Stevie Wonder album, rare gift that it is, must be judged fairly against his competitors in the current marketplace, not against his glorious past.

On that count, A Time 2 Love is one of the year's standout R & B albums. That it's not quite as good as recent efforts by John Legend, Van Hunt or Prince (!) shouldn't be seen as a failing, but instead a good sign for the neo-soul movement that was started in part to get back to the kind of songcraft and musicianship that Wonder has long stood for. For me, the more up-tempo numbers on the album work the best as Wonder shows that he still knows how to set up an infectious groove and get out of the way of it. The best of these songs are "Please Don't Hurt My Baby", and previous single "So What The Fuss" (featuring a nice guitar groove from Prince). The ballads on the other hand are more of a mixed bag, ranging from the banal (the sappy, unmemorable "Can't Imagine Love Without You" and the hurricane benefit song "Shelter in the Rain") to the merely solid ("Moon Blue") to the nearly sublime (the title track, which starts slowly but with guest india.arie turns into a complex, Africanized syncopation that ebbs and flows for over 9 minutes and "Sweetest Somebody I Know", which isn't quite a ballad or a dance song but is filled with the kind of earnest love of life and women for which Stevie Wonder is famous).

If A Time 2 Love isn't classic Wonder or a total home run, it's still worthwhile and it's a step forward from his last work, 1995's uneven Conversation Peace. I'm glad to have Stevland Morris back and we need this living legend out there making new music to keep setting the bar higher for all the young turks in R&B and soul.

Franz Ferdinand, You Could Have It So Much Better (my grade: A-) - Not a leap forward or a step back from their platinum-selling, hyperbole-inducing debut, Franz Ferdinand sticks to what they do best--rejiggered New Wave with a dash of punk and disco thrown in, with a heaping helping of cheeky, catchy lyrics. It has the curious effect of being instantly likeable and yet somewhat forgettable at the same time. They tweak the formula a little bit, especially on the vaguely Beatlesesque "Eleanor Put Your Boots On, but all in all their fans will embrace the new album with glee, their critics will be kept at arms length and the world will be made ready for what will most likely be their great leap forward on their third album when, as Bono predicts, "Franz Ferdinand will take over the world."

Brainteaser

Power is running out on the old laptop so I leave you with this brainteaser--who invented the television set and in what year is he credited with patenting the invention? Good luck,,,,

Peace!