Freedom Rock

J. Freedom du Lac
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, February 27, 2007 2:00 PM

Washington Post music critic J. Freedom du Lac is online every Tuesday at 2 p.m. ET to talk about the latest on the music scene: alternative, country, alt-country, pop, hyphy, harp-rock, reggae, reggaeton, R and B and whatever it is that Ris Paul Ric does.

The transcript follows.

____________________

washingtonpost.com: Schieffer Hosts, Griffith Rules At the Wammies

_______________________

washingtonpost.com: In OurSpace At Last: Lily Allen's Twisted Pop

_______________________

J. Freedom du Lac: Greetings, peeps. I'm here, after I wasn't. Sorry about last week's unexpected absence. I just thought it would be nice to let Plotkin answer all the Tool questions for once. Let's do this.

_______________________

Concord, N.H.: The radio that lives on the desk next to me has played that horrific Hinder song about wanting to be a cheater about 400 times today. When it's not bleating lame Hinder tunes, it's tormenting me with Nickelback or DAUGHTRY. I'd get headphones and play something tolerable but have to be able to hear my phone. What to do?

J. Freedom du Lac: Start playing reggaeton at high volume. You'll win the war. Speaking of Hinder, has anybody here heard Jack Ingram's earnest cover of "Lips of an Angel"? Isn't he supposed to be kinda like a funnier Steve Earle? What the hell happened?

_______________________

Fairfax, Va.: Any early thoughts on Neon Bible? And how high do you think tickets will be going on the day of that show?

J. Freedom du Lac: Don't yet have a fully formed opinion. I've only listened to the album once, and Arcade Fire is not a band whose music can or should be digested after a single sitting. "Neon Bible" didn't floor me on first pass, but again -- just one listen. (Lots of pipe organ, though!)

I rather liked the "Saturday Night Live" performance, though I couldn't tell whether Win Butler's vocals were buried in the mix on accident (the usual SNL sound problems) or on purpose (because, you know -- Arcade Fire ... so arty). Producer David watched the same performance and came up with a pretty apt analogy, I thought: Arcade Fire = Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, if the Boss and Co. were Montreal art school grads.

As for grey-market tickets to the show here (May 4, DAR Constitution Hall), I haven't the slightest idea how much they'll fetch. I'm sort of surprised that you can still buy 'em at face value, though. On-sale date was Saturday and I thought they'd all disappear before the end of the weekend. But the 9:30/IMP Web site says tix are available. Guess the arty indie rockers don't love DAR. If you don't have tickets, though, and want to go, I'd suggest that you act sooner than later. Lest you wind up having to trade a barely used snowboard, a Sufjan-at-Kennedy Center bootleg from the soundboard and the naming rights to your second born for a single Arcade Fire ticket.

_______________________

Austin Rock City: J. Free - let's meet for brunch during SXSW. Which do you prefer: breakfast tacos at Las Manitas or gingerbread pancakes at Kerbey Lane? Also, who's on your shortlist for must-see bands?

J. Freedom du Lac: Las Manitas sounds good! Now please book a plane ticket for me and I'll be all set. I'm 99% certain that I'm skipping South By this year. The bad news: I'm missing the music industry's spring break. The good news: I won't have to answer your questions about what I thought of [name of obscure band that played the 2 a.m. slot at some Sixth Street shot bar here].

_______________________

Dothan, Ala.: My favorite song is "The Humpty Dance" by Digital Underground.

J. Freedom du Lac: L. Freedom and I were thisclose to putting Digital Underground's "Tie the Knot" on our wedding CD. We ultimately decided against it. Figured the humor would be lost on some of our relatives.

_______________________

Washington, D.C.: J Free - what's happening with the Police, are they going to play in the area? There was an article in Baltimore about how they wanted to play Ravens Stadium, but there was an exhibition or something to close to the date. If they're not coming here, I need to get tickets for somewhere else. This announcing only a few shows at a time is not cool!

J. Freedom du Lac: Fine, fine question. The Baltimore Sun reported that the band wanted to play Aug. 4 at M&T Bank Stadium but couldn't book it because the Ravens have a pre-season game scheduled that day. Still hearing buzz about an Aug. 4 date -- which, by the way, remains open on the band's schedule -- and I still expect that they'll play closer to home than Hershey, PA, where they just announced a stadium show. But you're right that it's a bit of a gamble not getting tickets to another show in the meantime. I think they're likely to show up for Live Earth, too ... wherever that is.

_______________________

Re: Funnier Steve Earle: I think Earle is pretty damn funny as is.

J. Freedom du Lac: He's very funny. But Jack Ingram is what the justfolks might call "a hoot." If not "a riot." He hilarious.

_______________________

Arcade Fire Tickets at DAR: A friend said they were all gone by Saturday noon. Is he lying to me ?

J. Freedom du Lac: OK, so maybe I'm lying. The 9:30/IMP site shows that there's still availability. But I just went to Ticketmaster's site and couldn't find a single ducat for the show. Better get ready to offer that snowboard, etc!

_______________________

Freedonia: Dude, the Arcade Fire show sold out in 20 minutes on Saturday. Sorry, kidz.

J. Freedom du Lac: Shoot the messenger! (Original messenger, for those keeping score at home/the office/shooting range: The 9:30/IMP Web master.)

_______________________

Winchester, Va.: Hey man, glad you are back. 1 Question /

J. Freedom du Lac: Please phrase your question in the form of a question.

Speaking of which, a baseball manager - Mike Hargrove of the Seattle Mariners, I think - recently announced that he'd no longer respond to reporters who say, "Talk about [insert subject here]." Which is fantastic. I've always hated hearing journalists at press conferences or on conference-call interviews asking somebody to talk about something. Dudes, ask a question for crying out loud! So lazy. So ready for a tryout on MTV's "I'm From Rolling Stone."

_______________________

Upper Mayberry: J. Free how could you give Diddy's album a favorable review? That song "Last Night" with Keisha Cole is pure shabingus. It's the worst I've heard in a long time.

J. Freedom du Lac: I didn't review it, so how could I have given it a favorable review? OK, OK, so I did say, after hearing a couple of tracks -- including the one written by Pharoahe Monch that features a much more complicated rhyme scheme than what we're used to hearing from Diddy -- that I thought the album might surprise people in a good way. But it turns out the album ain't great. And you're right, that track is gar-bahge.

_______________________

DAR SUCKS: The sound is awful. Why do they even put on musical performences there? And just to mention: I saw My Chemical Romance with Rise Against this w/e in Phillie and the acoustics at the Lacourias Center are comparable if not worse.

J. Freedom du Lac: It's the "Saturday Night Live" of venues. The worst of the worst: The Emmylou Harris-Mark Knopfler show last year. I'm convinced that the guy at the boards was hearing impaired. A question for folks who've lived around here for a while: Is the sound at DAR *ever* good? Like, are there bands whose audio people figure out how to make it sound good? There was a comparably craptacular venue in Sacramento (Memorial Auditorium, home of a rather famous Keith Richards electrocution episode) where almost everybody sounded lousy. But every now and again, an artist would come through with an engineer who could dial it in just right.

_______________________

Washington, D.C.: Re: Arcade Fire - Sold out in 20 minutes? Try TWO minutes, or less. There were no more to be had by the time I completed my order online a few minutes after they went on sale.

One dude has a pair on Craigslist for $200. Each.

J. Freedom du Lac: That's a lot of snowboards. And Sufjan MP3s.

_______________________

Burlington, Vt.: You joke, but I've actually been watching the "I'm From Rolling Stone Show." I find it hi-larious that the blonde chick wants to use the pen name "Jagger" and is so willfully oblivious to the lameness it all.

J. Freedom du Lac: And has a Rolling Stones tongue-logo thingy on her keychain, too! Fun.

_______________________

MIA: Not that hot Sri Lankan singer. What I mean is - what the hell happened to you last week? I asked a very important question and you were not here to answer it. I do not remember now what the question was but it -was- important! I can assure you of that.

J. Freedom du Lac: Oh, right -- last week. I were here, just trapped beneath The Magazine Story From Hell. I swear, it won't happen again. Until the next time, anyway. But hey, my track record is solid unlike certain other regularly scheduled bald (but significantly more talented) chatters whose names I dare not speak -- lest they drop their $2 million ESPN paychecks on my unprotected head.

And yes, MIA is hot -- as is her latest hyper-chaotic track, "Bird Flu." Such glorious noise. Can't wait to hear the album.

And the answer to the question you can't remember is ... 12/8 time.

_______________________

Springfield, Va.: With rap sales down 20% last year, any thoughts on the "next trend"? It seems mainstream rap has finally reached the tipping point. Like the excess of butt rock in the 80s where anyone with poofy hair got a deal and followed the formula.

It seems like pop is being fulfilled by Disney for the tweens. Are we destined for one big beautiful mashup of styles or does that just speak to the failure of record label A&R and marketing? I'm still hoping for a true soul revival.

Also, any tips on good New Orleans jazz clubs? I'll be there this weekend.

J. Freedom du Lac: But wait, it gets worse! Coolfer (a most excellent and useful music-biz blog run by a Friend of Freedom Rock) just noted that rap sales are off by 32 percent this year. While it's true that the music business is tanking, it's especially true that rap is in trouble, at least on the album-sales front. But it's also true that rap is a monster when it comes to ringtone and digital track sales. Which makes sense, since it's a very singles-friendly medium. But yes, the genre has seen and heard better days

What's next? Dunno. Latin alternative? (Probably not, but...) Oh, wait -- I know. Corporate hard rock! The Hinders, Nicklebacks and Daughtrys of the world are taking over. Heaven help us all. Even Arizona Bay.

Related re the mainstream rap tipping point: Acquaintance of Freedom Rock Kelefa Sanneh has an interesting story about Koch and hip-hop in today's Major New York Newspaper Whose Name I Dare Not Speak. Worth a read. Just don't tell them that I sent you. Because, you know, we're like the Hatfields and McCoys.

_______________________

23112: What kind of music do you just absolutely not give a crap about?

J. Freedom du Lac: New age, with one caveat: It sort of sounds good when you're on a massage table, drooling into the donut face pillow thingy.

_______________________

Woodbridge, Va.: Whoa, whoa, Elvis Costello at the 9:30 Club!?!

J. Freedom du Lac: Yep, it's true. Elvis is entering the building. May 18. His first time at the 9:30. Hope you have a Visa card, though -- it's apparently one of them Visa Signature shows. (As in: Sign away your next mortgage payment to afford this ticket! Ah, just kidding. [Sort of.])

_______________________

Spearhead: JF: Is it true you took last week off your chat to do some style consulting with a certain former Mouseketeer whose behaviour has made recent news?? Is that the reason her hairstyle looks strangely like yours now???

J. Freedom du Lac: Jack Nicholson was a Mousekateer?!!?!! Who knew!

No, I was not consulting for Brit Brit. No way would I have advised her, for instance, to wear Abercrombie gym shorts while trying to smash in a car window with an umbrella. A girl can get hurt doing that, you know. (Guy, too.) Broken glass everywhere. Wouldn't want those legs to start bleeding. Feel bad for Britney, though. She's a troubled soul.

_______________________

hey, you changed the subject: Aw, Hargrove's just defensive because he's a crappy manager.

And why won't they put Ron Santo in the Hall of Fame?

Next time Boswell has a chat, I'll ask him about Tool.

J. Freedom du Lac: I dare you. Just watch him go Peter Gammons on you.

Actually, the next time our Orioles beat writer Jorge Arangure does a baseball chat, throw some music questions his way and see what happens. He's into indie rock.

_______________________

DAR Sound: I saw Wilco there a few years ago, and the sound was good, but I was also sitting in the 3rd row (Tweedy kicked a kid in the head who had rushed to the front to get his picture taken with the band; he also said something about them not being "caged monkeys" or something alluding to a zoo). The Strokes show there last year was pretty garbled, but the band put on a pretty entertaining show nonetheless. I saw SCI there (don't ask), but, well, it was a SCI show, so my recollections might not be very accurate.

I got some "Obstructed Vision" seats for the Arcade Fire show, which I was pissed about, but beggars can't be choosers. Are these really horrible, or are they tolerable?

J. Freedom du Lac: You were actually able to hear Wilco over the talking audience members? That band has some incredibly annoying fans. Especially the two guys who stood behind me at the recent 9:30 show and started talking about how other Wilco shows they'd been to were better -- this after, like, one song. They shouldn't shut up. Alas, that's not atypical for a Wilco show.

Producer David was in the front row at the DAR show, by the way. Wasn't him who got booted in the skull, though.

_______________________

Arlington, Va.: Let's just say I have read about all the newer bands you and others mention, but don't have any idea where this working stiff can hear them - radio, internet what? I can't rely on the one-off performance on Conan to get to know/hear these bands. So could we have a little shout- out in this thread where I can hear these bands on a regular basis without having to invest money or listen to a lot of other drivel?

Thanks.

J. Freedom du Lac: Myspace. It's a beautiful thing. You can hear full songs from almost anybody there, free of cost, from the convenience of your laptop or PC or Supercomputer. Hell, Leslie Gore even has a Myspace page! You don't own her, but you can hear a sampling of her songs right now if you really want to.

_______________________

Odenton, Md.: Have you heard Amy Winehouse's new album? What do you think? The Single "Rehab" is great. What are her chances of catching on in the states?

J. Freedom du Lac: Are you new here?

_______________________

Washington, D.C.: What are your top couple of shows to see b/w now and end of April?

J. Freedom du Lac: I was just putting together my March list. Could be a pretty great month for music. Jorge Drexler, Grizzly Bear, Nellie McKay, The Roots and Chuck Brown, Marva Wright and Allen Touissaint, Bright Eyes, Cold War Kids, Kennedy Center's jazzapalooza -- and so many more. It's such a good month that I actually have to miss Bettye LaVette. Need to see Explosions in the Sky that same night. And you know how much I love me some Bettye.

_______________________

Chat House: Hey, I'm always here--I just show up on MW Time.

J. Freedom du Lac: Mike Wise time? Mike's my guy. Never late.

I'll let you in on a little secret about Wise: He went to the James Blunt show with me last year. Willingly. And he seemed to like it. Remind him of that the next time you see him, please.

_______________________

Glen Ellyn, Ill.: I know nothing about Amy Winehouse except that she heckled Bono at an awards show. That makes her all right in my book.

J. Freedom du Lac: Who hasn't?

Teresa Wiltz wrote a piece on Miz Winehouse for the Style section earlier this month. Worth a read because not only is she talented, but she also crazy. (Amy Winehouse, I mean. Teresa is very talented herself, but not crazy. Like, you don't see Teresa showing up for work with fresh arm scars that she can't explain because she was wasted the night before.)

Right now, I have six tracks in my 2007 best singles contenders file, and two of them are Amy Winehouse songs. The best of them is "Rehab," which is my favorite song this year.

_______________________

washingtonpost.com: 100-Proof Voice; Amy Winehouse Has the Makings of an Incredible Musician. And Perhaps the Makings of a Sad, Short Story.

_______________________

Fed Triangle: The Pixies sounded great at DAR when I saw them the most recent time around. Also saw the Smashing Pumpkins there maybe 8-9 years ago and they sounded good as well. The first time through with the Strokes sounded OK, but this last time sucked BIG TIME. I find, when my seats face straight on to the stage sound seems better, but when I'm off to the side, not so good. J Free, you're dangerous, cause you're honest.

J. Freedom du Lac: Nah, I'm dangerous because I never look over my shoulder when I'm turning right.

_______________________

Washington, D.C.: Do you have an opinion on the Gym Class Heroes? They are actually from the small town where I went to college and they played at our school. My friend even knew the band and we all hung out later. I'm just surprised at how they've actually become famous! Are the members still the same from 3 years ago?

J. Freedom du Lac: I love Patrick Stump's hook on the chorus of the new version of "Cupid's Chokehold." But he's not actually in the band. And that single doesn't otherwise do much for me. And I haven't listened to the rest of the album. Too busy geeking out on Pacha Massive and Jorge Drexler.

Drexler's album, which we reviewed today, is very much worth seeking out, by the way. BYOT[ranslator] if you don't speak Spanish. But get that album. Pacha's, too. (Poor you if you missed the free download in iTunes Latino last week. Love that cut.)

Also on my list of interest: The Ricky Skaggs-Bruce Hornsby

album. I haven't yet heard it but I sure did enjoy seeing their CMT "Crossroads" session. Those guys know their way around an instrument.

_______________________

DAR Acoustics: I've been there to see Keith Richards, Springsteen solo, Fela. Three different kinds of music; all the same crappy sound.

J. Freedom du Lac: Another vote against.

_______________________

DAR/Santana: I saw Carlos and company play there back in the late 70's...sounded fine. Coulda been the hallucinogens....

Graduated from high school from DAR as well. Again, sounded fine. Again, probably the hallucinogens.

J. Freedom du Lac: A hazy vote pro.

_______________________

Say it ain't so!: I saw Lily in Boston right after she played DC. So disappointed to read you article because it appears that EVERYTHING she said at our show she apparently said at yours (being a bit tipsy, expletives about the Brit awards, etc.). Apparently she's not as spontaneous as she appeared. I guess this is normal for tours. It just seems so schtick-y . . .

J. Freedom du Lac: Dirty little secret: A LOT of artists do this. You'd be shocked to learn how many bands have scripted banter, even when it seems unscripted -- even when they're really literate singer-songwriters who have a lot to say about the world.

_______________________

Washington, D.C.: I couldn't agree more, especially in DC. Every Wilco show I have seen in DC has been capacity with ---holes, girls smoking cloves, and guys that won't stop talking. Oddly enough, Baltimore shows have been pretty great... But i wonder how a band I like so much can have such annoying fans.

J. Freedom du Lac: Another vote against Wilco fans. You people should take notes from the Son Volt fans. So much more respectful.

_______________________

DAR: I've never had major issues with the sound, but the sight lines from anywhere but front and center are pretty awful.

J. Freedom du Lac: And another vote...

_______________________

Sound at DAR Constitution Hall: It sounded good when they called my name at my high school graduation...of course, I don't think they were broadcasting in stereo back then.

J. Freedom du Lac: Are you sure you weren't hallucinating? I'm not accusing. Just wondering.

_______________________

Washington, D.C.: Constitution Hall's not that bad, but it definitely gives inexperienced sound engineers fits. It's definitely better than the Phone Booth.

To really get down to it, there's not a single theater I've been in Washington, DC that is properly tuned (this INCLUDES the Kennedy Center Concert Hall AND Opera House). This city is desperate for some acqoustical engineers to tune our concert venues. Philly and New York have dozens of well-tuned rooms!

J. Freedom du Lac: Interesting. I thought Sufjan and the orchestra sounded pretty spanky in that space. Agree that [Insert Telcom Company Name Here] Center isn't particularly great, but, then, don't most arenas have spotty acoustics? For my well-mixed money, give me Birchmere or give me deaf.

_______________________

ticket in hand: Yeah, that Arcade Fire show sold out super quick! And this, "Arcade Fire = Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, if the Boss and Co. were Montreal art school grads" has been said too many times before. We can't give producer boy credit for it.

Now a question: Is a trip to the Charm City on a weeknight worth it for the Hold Steady?

J. Freedom du Lac: It doesn't exist if I haven't heard it!

You should ask Producer David for his opinion on a road trip to see the Hold Steady. He absolutely loves the band but didn't love the live show at the Black Cat. As always, your mileage may vary.

_______________________

pop punk ...shoot me: AHHHH are you as sick of the quasi pop punk scene as I am? Is it too much to ask that the crappy pop punk "bands" go away and quit ruining the scene. I for one am sick of the shrieking 12 year old girls at shows & bands who had talent selling out to fit an image. makes it so much harder for people with actual talent to be taken seriously and for music lovers to sort through the crap. thanks for letting me vent

J. Freedom du Lac: Ruh roh. You might want to stay away from The Magazine Story From Hell, which is scheduled to front the March 18 edition of TWP's Sunday mag. It's about a certain pop punk band with shrieking 12 year old fan girls.

And on that note, I've gotta sign off. The editor of This Very Web Site is holding court downstairs, and I need to be there in case he says something funny about Producer David.

Thanks, as always, for stopping by. Be back on Tuesday to talk Akon and Arcade Fire. Not necessarily in that order.

_______________________

Editor's Note: washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions. washingtonpost.com is not responsible for any content posted by third parties.