411 Music Roundtable: July Edition

Tag : Deep Socket Sets


The 411 Music Staff look back on June, where Lil Wayne and Coldplaysold like gangbusters, Ice-T and Soulja Boy feuded, Kanye Westacted like a bitch, R. Kelly was found not guilty, Tim McGraw wentvigilante and lots more, plus previews for July releases by MyChemical Romance, Nas, Beck, Alkaline Trio, Miley Cyrus and lotsothers!

Hello 411 fans, it's another edition of the 411 Music Roundtable,where the highly thought of and/or high as a kite Music Zone stafflook back on the news of the last month and forward to the newreleases of this one.

We're also trying out some new writers here, so make sure tocomment on the bottom on how much you love them or want to see themviolently mutilated.

On with the show!


JULY 2008


BIGGEST WINNER OF THE MONTH


Lil' Wayne
Dan Marsicano: The New Orleans rapper tore up the charts thismonth, with his new album Tha Carter III selling over a million copies in its first week and is currentlyat about 1.5 million copies sold. That figure is amazing,especially the way that downloading has "hurt" the record industry.It wouldn't surprise me if downloading actually helped the album.Who knows? Maybe, and this is a crazy concept, people who downloadalbums will buy them if they are&good. Yeah, I know, I'm out of mymind.

Patrick Robinson: After months of anticipation, Lil Wayne finallyreleased Tha Carter III which ended up not only taking out the Number 1 spot on theBillboard Charts, but sold over 1 million copies in its first weekof sales as well, the first album to do so since 50 Cent's The Massacre back in 2005. Whilst it's easy to dispute his claims of "BestRapper Alive", Wayne is easily one of the most talked about rappersin recent times. As the saying goes, "any publicity is goodpublicity", and funnily enough, the majority of the publicity Waynehas been receiving lately has been positive.

Ben Czajkowski: It begrudges me to admit this, but after pushingmore than a million copies of his new album in its first week, LilWayne deserves the respect and admiration (or at least aching envy)of music gurus and artists. While I don't believe Tha Carter III is necessary deserving of such a feat, in a day and age when salesare struggling, it shows a bright spot and a sign of life in adwindling record industry.

Norm Williams, Jr.: Selling a million records is all in a week'swork for the self proclaimed best rapper alive, whose Tha Carter III further cemented his claim, even after it was leaked by pissed offmixtape DJ's. Whether you agree with Lil Wayne's claim or not, hisunparalleled lyrical ability and savvy punch-lines have music fansbegging for more. And that's just what he gave them by releasing aspecial thank you remix of "A Mili" after going platinum in itsfirst week. Could it be that we really are witnessing the rise ofthe best rapper alive?

My Bloody Valentine
James Palm: It's been 17 years since their last album, and the longawaited follow-up to Loveless is definitely probably almost going to be released this yeareventually. This month MBV made their live comeback in London. Allreports coming out of these shows have been extremely positive,including high praise from 411's own Ian Wright, though the newmaterial has not been showcased just yet. Some bands struggle toregain their spark after a short hiatus, but MBV seemingly needonly to flick a switch and transport themselves back into theprimetime of their lives. Kudos.

Coldplay
Ramya Kumaran: Their new album Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends has been doing extremely well in sales by opening with 721,000albums sold and by currently being at the #1 spot on Billboardcharts. Coldplay is truly a winner with the public with theirfourth album release. I feel that their sound has returned to bereminiscent of Parachutes , yet it is different at the same time. I saw "Violet Hill" amongthe new songs listed at the campus radio station where I am a DJ,and this was my first impression of Coldplay's new album. I saythat this is definitely an improvement from X&Y .

Shane Lee: I'm happy to see Coldplay back, and it seems I'm notalone. Coldplay is atop all major sales charts, top album, topdigital album, and top signal. Viva La Vida is the English group's fourth album, and as always a fresh soundin an otherwise recycled beat, single dependent music scene.

Angelspit
Eva Derzic: Still hot off the success of their debut album Krankenhaus , Angelspit took a definite three steps forward this month with therelease of their new album, Blood Death Ivory . Stronger than ever with their merciless melodies and seductivelydiscordant vocals, it's clear that the two-piece industrial bandfrom Sydney won't be silenced as they continue to tear the conceptof "status quo" to shreds. Distorting the definition of beautyentirely with their brand of chaos and nightmarish aesthetics, Zoogand Destroyx will get up into your head and up to no good.

The Offspring
Steve Kubitz: The biggest winner of this month is the Offspring forreturning to the Top 10 of the charts with their new album, Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace . The album debuted on the Billboard 200 at #10, selling over46,000.

Kanye West
Alex Dowson: Who'da thought that the person who walked away thewinner of the Ice-T/Soulja Boy feud would be a third party? Theking of hip hop bravado walks away with a blog post for the ages inJune. Let's hope Ice-T is up on his Universecity knowledge. And tothink the only reason I frequented Mr. West's blog was for the sneakers andsupermodels on which he loves to write. Write about, y'know. I can't speak for Weezy's otheron-supermodel behavior. Hey, y'know he said himself he likes thegirls that ain't on TV, cause they got more& nevermind.

Madonna
Vanessa Willoughby: Although this may seem like a given, Madonnahas once again proved that she's the reigning Queen of Pop. Heruncanny ability to reinvent herself year after year, album afteralbum, makes a sad mockery of her contemporary minions (I'm lookingat you, Britney Spears). Hard Candy has a hip-hop flavor mixed with a dash of pure dance spice forgood measure. It doesn't hurt that she's collaborated with JustinTimberlake and The Neptunes. God Save the Queen!


BIGGEST LOSER OF THE MONTH


DMX
Dan Marsicano: DMX got arrested twice in one week in late June.TWICE IN ONE WEEK. First, he's driving without a valid license,then he tries to buy weed and cocaine. The way he is going, nextweek he'll kill a hooker, shoot up heroin, and drive in hisMercedes shouting "DMX!" DMX, or Earl as your mom likes to callyou, you got to calm down. Don't be going all crazy yet; wait foryour new album to come out. Jail time is great publicity, so holdout a few months until the new album hits.

Kayne West
James Palm: It's good to know that there are still some wankersleft in the music industry. Kayne West made a dick of himself atthe Bonnaroo Music Festival in Tennessee last month. Originallyslated to play at 8:15 Saturday night, West switched to 2:45 AM sothat his extravagant light show could be appreciated. And despitehaving an entire hour extra to set up the stage than he would havehad previously, West did not start his set until after 4:00 AM.That's flat out appalling. Someone needs to realize he isn't biggerthan the music.

Ramya Kumaran: The following is an excerpt of the absolute rageKanye expressed on his blog after hearing negative response andcomments about his performance at the Bonnaroo Festival:

"This is the most offended I've ever been... this is the maddest Iever will be. I'm typing so...hard I might break my...Mac bookAir!!!!!!!!"

Well, that is quite the threat, Mr. Kanye. I am currently quiveringin my sandals just by reading those words. Shake this negativityoff, and focus on your next appearance.

Steve Kubitz: The biggest loser this month is easily Kanye West.His actions at the Bonnaroo Music Festival were absolutelydespicable, he was over two hours late for his scheduled starttime, and made the tired crowd wait till nearly 4:30 in the morningto grace them with his presence. His reason for the delay, hewanted his stage theatrics set up, and didn't care how much of adelay it caused.

Ice-T & Soulja Boy
Patrick Robinson: What started off as a throwaway accusation fromIce-T that Soulja Boy "single-handedly killed hip-hop" and aretaliatory video from Soulja Boy saying that Ice-T was "born threecenturies ago" became the most ridiculous news piece of June. Ice-Tthen responded with a YouTube video of his own declaring war onSoulja Boy in a battle of "good hip-hop vs. bad hip-hop".

Despite the fact that Ice-T pretty much stopped rapping back in1999 (let's forget that Gangsta Rap album from 2006) to focus on his acting, that of a cop in "Law &Order" no less, and the fact that Soulja Boy seems to be lackingany real staying power in the hip-hop game, these two have sparkedmuch debate and even external input from people like Kanye West.The sad thing is though, back in the day when two rappers had beefwith each other, they'd turn to the studio and cut a track. Thesedays, the first line of defense seems to be YouTube.

Amy Winehouse
Ben Czajkowski: It just keeps pouring out of every vein and socketof the media world: Amy Winehouse looks like a horse is a fuckup beyond the pinnacle of even the worst Britney Spears.This month, she went into rehab, was hospitalized, and diagnosedwith (pre-?)Emphysema because of her crack and cigarette smokinghabits. Oh, and she was wearing what appeared to be a diaper , too, at one point. And her nipples . Jesus. Now she got into a fight with a fan at Glastonbury ? I deem her "Apocalyptic Fail". Some days, I wonder what goesthrough her head&

Alex Dowson: It's all her father's fault. Or, maybe it's all herpublicist's fault. C'mon, y'all, just get the woman to knock out anew single or something, anything! No one wants to see a brawl overlung disease, of all things. I remember the good ol' days, beforewe needed a saucy British songstress all over the tabloids. First,Wino was the new Lily Allen, now Duffy's the new Wino... I'llbelieve THAT when I see that lil' Welsh girl sporting a Martha &the Vandellas-era updo (Y'know I heard about a lady who had one ofthose beehives, and it had spiders living innit!) and a newfoundcocaine habit. Will Duffy be one of those girls waiting in the linefor the bathroom, as N*E*R*D put it? Can Duffy even reach abathroom counter? Seriously, she's itty bitty. And when did itbecome unsuitable for Amy Winehouse to be an indie princess singingabout @#$% me pumps and so forth? These are questions for the ages.Ponderous indeed.

Young Buck
Norm Williams, Jr: The former G-Unit member gets my vote for hisatrocious phone call that proved he is nothing more than a studiothug with a conflicted idea of self. After openly dissing G-Unit ina video that aired on YouTube, the self proclaimed thug "straightout of Cashville" had a relapse of conscious. In a recorded call to50 Cent, Buck cried like a bitch and begged for forgiveness forbeing out of line. I guess in the end radio thugs just want to beloved.

Miley Cyrus
Eva Derzic: So, she went and caused a huge scandal and amassed alot of (probably unwanted) publicity with those Vanity Fairpictures -- fine. Everybody makes mistakes. But must we continue tohear about her little slip up? Every few days, it seems she agreesconduct a new interview about the whole affair, and how she's sorrythat she made a mistake. Last I heard, she tearfully stated how sheloved being a role model for other girls. Puh-lease. We get thepicture, now enough already!

Pete Wentz
Vanessa Willoughby: Even if you don't like Fall Out Boy, I'm sureyou've heard of the band's front man, Pete Wentz. Wentz, who ismarried to Ashlee Simpson, has taken it upon himself to rechargeMTV's current lineup of predictable reality shows. Set for a Fridaynight time slot, "FNMTV" promises to deliver full-length videos andexclusive performances. Maybe I'd appreciate this more if Wentzactually followed through with his promise. The format seems to belike a sugary copycat of TRL, pre Carson Daly.

Kathy Griffin
Shane Lee: Her life on the D list continues as Kathy Griffin'slatest album, For Your Consideration , debuts at #85. She has always felt unappreciated, and with thiskind of love she's more likely getting a bigger boost from JambaJuice than her ego. It seems the stigma of women not being funnywon't turn the tide this week.


BIGGEST MUSIC NEWS OF THE MONTH


Metallica Names New Album Death Magnetic
Dan Marsicano: So it isn't the biggest news story of the month formost people, but for a die-hard Metallica fan like myself, anythingrelating to the new album is big news. I'm really excited for thisalbum, even more so than Watershed . Will this be better than St. Anger ? God, I hope so. If it isn't, I might have to give up on the bandcompletely, and Lord knows I don't want to do that.