Tomeka Is Sir Mix-A-Lot's Surprising New Discovery

Music Review: Tomeka - The Black Hood

Tomeka Williams is not the sort of artist you would normally expect to be associated with the guy who gave the world — among other things — what is arguably the most famous song ever recorded celebrating the female backside in "Baby Got Back."

Yet here it is.

Tomeka's debut album for Sir Mix-A-Lot's Rhyme Cartel label is bold, brassy, surprisingly innovative, and most of all a dramatic departure from the sort of bass-heavy, booty-licious jams Seattle's most famous rap export is famous for.

This is an album which speaks highly for both artists. Sir Mix-A-Lot proves himself to be both a great producer and a more than worthy collaborator for a new artist who could just prove to be an important new voice at a time when pop music is so sorely in need of one.

For Mix's part, it speaks volumes in terms of the much wider and far more diverse musical palette he apparently draws from than anyone familiar with his own work probably ever expected. Mix-A-Lot is a full-on partner-in-crime with Tomeka here. He not only co-produced the album with Tomeka, but either wrote or co-wrote fully seven of the albums ten tracks.

The first thing you notice here is the decided rock edge on many of the songs. While a song title like "Ho" might suggest some sort of gangsta' rap joint on its surface, the song actually owes more to the sassy empowerment of a tough rocker grrrl like Pink or Joan Jett, than it does to any sort of B-girl sleaze or misogynist hip-hop. The fuzzy rock guitars are front and center on this track, while songs like the equally edgy "Why" are powered by the sort of heavy electronics favored by guys like Trent Reznor or Thom Yorke.

The girl also has some impressive vocal chops though, as she amply demonstrates on the funky, Beyonce-like "Me Like." Listen up fellas' — when Tomeka breathes lines like "me like his lips/you should see where they kiss," you either wanna' be in that car next to her, or you simply don't have a pulse. Get the picture?

But Tomeka also shows a more socially conscious, and dare I say, even tender side on songs like "Heroes (A Letter to Obama)" and "Way Back Home," which finds the artist yearning for a more downhome and distant time and place. When Tomeka sings the lyrics "Stained glass sweatin' in a Baptist church/ Preachers in the pulpit spreadin' that word," you can feel the spirit moving in time with the gospel backing vocals.

The opening "What She Gave" paints a similar picture of simpler, less complicated times "when none of your loved ones died, playin' softball, and everyone had a Grandma." There is a lyrical depth in these songs that is, if nothing else, quite uncommon for such a new voice. Tomeka displays the same sort of lyrical depth on the title track, which finds her taking on, among other things, the "seeds left at home while Mommy chases glass." A point only further underscored by more of those ever-so-edgy rock guitars.

It would be easy to lump Tomeka into the sort of nice little retro-soul box occupied by say, Erykah Badu or India Arie. But to do so just wouldn't do her the justice she deserves.

They tell me this album should be in stores sometime in February, but for those who can't wait, it can be downloaded now at Amazon (among other places). My recommendation is don't sleep on this quiet and rather unlikely, but nonetheless powerful new voice. Tomeka is clearly an original, and I've no doubt we haven't heard the last from her.

WCW Is Back And Its New Name Is TNA

Earlier this month, something happened in the world of professional wrestling that hasn't been seen in something like a decade. Two competing wrestling companies actually went head-to-head with their television programming on a Monday night.

For one night in January 2010, the "Monday Night Wars" of the 1990's were back. But wait — it gets even better. Between the two Monday night wrestling shows — WWE's Monday Night Raw and TNA's Impact — the names involved read like some kind of sports entertainment time warp.

TNA's three-hour extravaganza not only marked the return of Hulk Hogan, but also names like Ric Flair, Eric Bischoff, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Sean "X-Pac" Waltman, and the Nasty Boys.

Raw countered with the return of Bret "Hitman" Hart, who hasn't been seen in a WWE ring since Vince McMahon screwed him out of the world championship twelve years ago in a rare real-life incident fans still refer to as the "Montreal Screwjob." It has long since gone on to become the stuff of legend among those who follow the soap opera for men that is pro-wrestling. Most insiders also believe Hart's return will lead to a scripted final chapter to the "Montreal Screwjob" with McMahon which will play out at this year's Wrestlemania pay-per-view.

What makes all of this most interesting however, is that if you blinked for a second — not to mention overlooked the fact that guys like Scott Hall look quite a bit worse for their wear these days — you'd almost swear it was the mid-nineties again.

For those unfamiliar, perhaps a brief history lesson is in order here.

During the 90's, pro-wrestling enjoyed a brief period of unprecedented mainstream success, that was driven mostly by the very heated and intense competition between the two primary national wrestling promotions.

Vince McMahon's World Wrestling Federation (now WWE) had been there before in the eighties with stars like Hulk Hogan and Randy "Macho Man" Savage. But when Hogan defected to Ted Turner's rival World Championship Wrestling (WCW) — lured away by a lighter schedule and a fatter paycheck — other WWF stars, including Savage, Rowdy Roddy Piper, Ultimate Warrior, Hall, Nash, and Waltman soon followed suit.

Even Bret Hart eventually wound up in WCW, which contributed in more ways than one to the skullduggery which took place at the "Montreal Screwjob." But that's another story...

Long story short, this led Eric Bischoff, who was then running WCW for Turner, to create Monday Nitro, which ran head to head on Monday nights with WWF's Raw, and to become the biggest pain in Vince McMahon's ass for most of the nineties. The Monday Night Wars were born.

For the first several years of the war, WCW's Nitro handed the WWE's ass to them on a platter, thanks in large part to a brilliant storyline involving the renegade NWO (New World Order), a faction of heels ("bad guys"), headed by Hogan, Hall and Nash. In the heavily scripted world of wrestling, this angle was red hot because it created the illusion that actual WWE guys were invading WCW. Bischoff, for his part, did nothing to discourage this distortion of reality. As wrestling stories go, this stuff was pure gold.

While WWE did take a beating for awhile, this also gave McMahon time to regroup, and to develop new stars like WCW cast-off Steve Austin and second generation wrestler Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. When the NWO story went on a few years past its shelf life and grew stale, and Austin's character in particular caught on big-time with the anti-authoritarian, beer-swilling "Stone Cold" persona, WWE eventually regained its place as the top dog in the Monday Night Wars.

The winner in all this of course was the fans. The Monday Night Wars and all the heated competition they fostered, meant both companies fighting tooth and nail to out do each other every Monday — which resulted in some of the best wrestling shows ever seen on TV. It's hard to believe today, but in the nineties the two companies combined for double digit ratings and often outdrew Monday Night Football — especially among younger viewers. Wrestling was actually that hot.

The question now is, can that type of lightning strike twice?

With no real competition since WWE eventually bought WCW for pennies on the dollar once the war had clearly been won — Vince McMahon's Monday Night Raw product has largely coasted for the past ten years. They have developed some new stars — most notably John Cena — but many feel the product has become stale, and has otherwise lost its once cutting edge.

However some real competition could be just the thing to shake things up again. With Hogan's return, interest in Spike's TNA (Total Nonstop Action) is higher than it has probably ever been, and a second round of head-to-head Monday Night Wrestling has been confirmed for March 1st. There are also rumors of a permanent Monday night slot for TNA, if they can deliver a good rating.

Could a return of the Monday Night Wars be in the making?

If so, TNA is going to need to do several things. A show packed with older stars like Hogan, Flair, Nash, etc, is sure to pop some decent ratings in the short term. The novelty and nostalgia factors alone make that a given. But in order to sustain that momentum, TNA is also going to need to develop compelling new stories, and more importantly, groom talented and young new stars.

The three hour TNA show earlier this month was a lot of fun to watch, to be sure. But far too often, it also really resembled the trainwreck that was WCW in its dying days.

The storylines — largely scripted by former WWE and WCW writer Vince Russo — were often hard to follow. Characters like Hogan and Bischoff also really blurred the lines between good and evil. One minute, Hogan is the guy who is there to save the company, and the next Bischoff's character, who is paired with Hulk, is firing fan-favorite Mick Foley and portraying himself as the same sniveling little shit he did in WCW. Good guys? Bad guys? Beats the hell out of me.

In wrestling, the lines between babyface and heel must always be clearly defined. The one thing you don't want to do is confuse who it is the fans are supposed to be cheering for and booing against. TNA is going to need to sharpen these stories, and define the characters better if they are going to succeed long term.

The other problem right now with TNA is that the older stars — many of whom are wrestling long past their expiration date (and look it) — threaten to overshadow the many young talents TNA will need to develop in order to compete with WWE. Right now, the promotion really just looks like the old WCW with a new name.

In addition to Hogan, Bischoff, Flair, Waltman, Hall and Nash — guys like the Nasty Boys, Jeff Jarrett (who helped start the company with his father), Sting, and Scott Steiner also have spots on the roster. WWE and ECW castoffs like Team 3D (the former Dudley Boys), Jeff Hardy (who arrives following a recent drug-related arrest), and even Kurt Angle (with a history of neck problems) complete the very familiar looking locker room there.

These faces should give TNA a short-term ratings bump for sure once the fans find them. But eventually, younger fans in particular are going to realize that Hogan and Flair are old enough to be their grandfathers.

The younger, hipper stars of WWE like Cena, Batista, Randy Orton and Rey Mysterio already have devoted followings not unlike the Rock and Austin once did in the nineties. WWE is also busy developing the next generation of talent with people like C.M. Punk, The Miz, John Morrison, Kofi Kingston, and current champion Sheamus. In order to succeed, TNA will need to do the same.

The good news there is TNA has got plenty of potential new stars in people like Samoa Joe, Christopher Daniels, and A.J. Styles. While TNA fans are already familiar with these names, the larger audience still doesn't know them. What TNA does with these talents is crucial. So far however, the signs are a mixed bag.

Styles is their current champion, but has also been given a character-makeover as a heel who has been paired with Ric Flair. While Flair is probably the best teacher a young guy like Styles could have as far as nurturing the total wrestling package of in-ring skills and the ability to talk smack on a mike — Styles should also be given the chance to develop into an original character on his own. Right now, they seem to be fashioning him as a Flair clone.

Meanwhile Christopher Daniels — who has had many great, but under-watched matches with Styles and others, appears to be moving down the card. I haven't seen much of Samoa Joe — an all too rare combination of size and skill in the wrestling game — at all since Hogan and Bischoff arrived.

I want to see TNA succeed. Not because I favor them over WWE, but because the return of a real competitor means that the quality of the product can only get better. But these are disturbing signs, especially given the history of Hogan and Bischoff's last run at the top together in WCW.

Hopefully, they will work out the kinks and TNA will emerge as a legitimate player in a new Monday Night Wars. This would be nothing but good news for wrestling fans.

Bur for the present, WCW appears to be back and its new name is TNA.

The Case For Latter Day Bowie: A Reality Tour

Although David Bowie has been pretty quiet for the last several years, his enduring influence is something which continues to permeate virtually every aspect of pop music today.

From the electronic excursions of bands like Nine Inch Nails and Radiohead — whose Kid A, Amnesiac, and In Rainbows make up a trilogy not at all unlike Bowie's seventies "Berlin" albums with Brian Eno — to the work of modern bands like Arcade Fire (who Bowie himself has enthusiastically and publicly endorsed), Bowie's stamp remains everywhere, even if the artist himself has been mostly silent in recent years.

So here's the thing.

David Bowie's status as an innovator is pretty much beyond reproach. He's never sold records in quite the same numbers as such contemporaries as the Rolling Stones — outside of the early eighties Let's Dance period anyway. But save for maybe Neil Young (which is another discussion entirely), there simply isn't another artist from the same time period whose influence remains so pervasive in pop music today.

From the textures of electronica to the immediacy of punk (and its nineties bastard child grunge/alternative), most of it can be traced to Bowie's groundbreaking albums in the seventies. But this is also where the rub comes in...

Ask most Bowie fans, and they will tell you that his once-bright, creative spark began to dim back in the eighties shortly after Lets Dance. And for awhile — especially during the latter half of that decade — that argument was largely a legitimate one. While albums like Tonight and Never Let Me Down as well as his brief small-rock-band experiments with Tin Machine had their moments, they were also largely hit-and-miss affairs.

What few people realize, though, is that Bowie had a very nice creative resurgence beginning in the nineties, and continuing well into the past decade. Though his star may have long since dimmed, and game-changing albums like Ziggy Stardust, Diamond Dogs, and Heroes were long behind him, such didn't stop Bowie from following his artistic muse. There would be no Rolling Stones-styled Bridges To Babylon embarrassments.

With nothing left to prove, Bowie instead soldiered on with a series of recordings that catered to no one's expectations other than his own. Nobody is going to mistake albums like 2002's Heathen and 2003's Reality for a groundbreaking work like The Man Who Sold The World. But there is no doubt that with these latter-day albums, Bowie had settled into a very nice place. And perhaps for the first time in his career, he wasn't playing a series of roles, but rather simply being himself.

And that is what the new Bowie 2CD concert set, A Reality Tour, is really all about.

Recorded on the road in support of his then-current Reality album, A Reality Tour was first released as a DVD concert film in 2004. To coincide with its long overdue audio release this coming Tuesday, the Fuse network will be running the original concert in its world-broadcast premiere.

As anyone who has followed Bowie over the years already knows, his career has been as much about performance and its theatrical aspects as it has been about his musical innovations (which are no less significant, though they have been overshadowed at times).

Make no mistake. On A Reality Tour, Bowie remains ever the showman and the crowd pleaser. The difference here is that this is a far more mature Bowie. Finally comfortable in his own skin, Bowie leaves the greasepaint and big productions of years past behind for the most part to concentrate on delivering a more-direct performance.

Even so, he is not at all beyond putting a fresh spin on time-tested favorites ranging from Ziggy period chestnuts like "Hang On To Yourself" and "All The Young Dudes" to his more experimental Berlin-era material like "Heroes" and "Breaking Glass" (one of three very cool, previously unheard extras on these new audio discs).

The common thread through it all is how Bowie makes these songs sound like new creations, while delivering them in newly immediate and personal ways. There are no alter-egos to be found here. No Ziggy. No Thin White Duke. No Plastic Soul Revue. What you see is what you get, and it is a Bowie which owes as much to the time-tested performance tradition of Sinatra and Presley as it does the avant-mime artiste pretensions of personas past.

Credit is also due to Bowie's band on this tour, which includes such longstanding hands as guitarist Earl Slick and keyboardist Mike Garson (both of whom date at least as far back as seventies Bowie tours behind albums like Station To Station).

Anyway, Bowie pleases the crowd here with the hits while making it all sound fresh and new. They are all here too — from "Life On Mars?" to "Fame" to "Ashes To Ashes" to "China Girl" (another of the audio bonus tracks).

The real revelation, however, springs from the more recent (at least relatively speaking) material. Selected songs from his then two current albums — 2002's Heathen and 2003's Reality — more than stand up here to classics from the seventies and eighties, even if they are nowhere near as celebrated. I have to admit that although I never paid them much attention at the time, songs like "New Killer Star" and "Bring Me The Disco King" sound pretty damn good here.

So what does this all mean? Even though the live recordings on A Reality Tour are now about six years old, they demonstrate foremost that even now David Bowie remains a pervasive influence on contemporary music even in what is hopefully a temporary state of absentia. More than that though, they prove that Bowie remains a vibrant artistic force who is nowhere near ready for the rock and roll retirement home that is the oldies circuit.

Don't count Bowie out yet. Because I suspect we are far from hearing the last of him.

The remastered 2CD set of A Reality Tour will be in stores Tuesday.

Glen Gets Quoted On Rush Limbaugh? Say It Aint So!

It's true. Rush Limbaugh did quote me on his radio show yesterday. But before my Democratic and progressive friends make plans to run me out of town on a rail as a traitor to the cause, I need to put this into its proper context.

This past New Years, I wrote an article for Blogcritics Magazine called The Obama Disappointment. In the article, I expressed disappointment that the Obama administration hasn't done more to put people back to work -- an issue that is obviously very near and dear to my own heart right now, particularly after "celebrating" my first full year among the unemployed.

I also expressed my disappointment that Obama hasn't shown more of what I will call for lack of a better term, "balls," in standing up to his Republican opposition. I was disappointed then. And yes, I'm disappointed now.

Not long after the Blogcritics article was published, I was interviewed by the Associate Press (AP) for a larger piece about people who likewise feel let down by Obama thus far, after the promises of "hope and change" during the 2008 campaign. That article, which is the same one Rush quoted my comments from, can be read here.

The truth is I am a little disappointed in Obama. But does this mean I yearn for the rosy days of the Bush years...or that I'd like to give the Republicans another try? Absolutely not! They got us into this mess, and I have little confidence that their tired mantra of tax-cuts for the rich are the way to get us out. I just don't see anything or anyone they would sell us as the answer. Sarah Palin? Thanks, but no, thanks.

But I would like to see Obama and the Democrats doing more to put America back to work. And yes, that includes yours truly.

As for Rush quoting me, I don't know whether to be flattered or pissed. I liked it a lot more when Howard Stern did it a few years back...

Pants On The Ground: A Star Is Born

Repeat after me, kids:

Pants on the ground pants on the ground
Lookin' like a fool with your pants on the ground
with the gold in your mouth, hat turned sideways, pants hit the ground,
call yourself a cool cat
lookin' like a fool
Walking downtown with your pants on the ground
Get it up!
Hey, get your pants off the ground!
Lookin' like a fool,
Walkin, talkin' with ya pants on the ground
Get it up!
Hey, get your pants off the ground!
Lookin' like a fool with your pants on the ground
Gold in the mouth, hat turned sideways
pants hit the ground,
call yourself a cool cat, Hey, get your pants off the ground!
Lookin' like a fool with your pants on the ground
Gold in the mouth, hat turned sideways
pants hit the ground
lookin' like a fool,
walkin', talkin' with ya pants on the ground
Boom, yea pants on the ground
lookin' like a fool with your pants on the ground!
with ya gold in your mouth, hat turned sideways
pants hit the ground, call yourself a cool cat...

Learn it, know it, live it. Because I've got this really odd feeling that General Larry Platt and his "Pants On The Ground" is going to be with us for a good long little while.

Has it really come to this?

I don't know about you, but I sure hope so.

I'm normally not a big fan of American Idol, but I try never to miss the early episodes in order to see all the really bad singers during the initial audition stages. For sheer entertainment value, the William Hungs and the Bikini Girls of the world rarely disappoint.

But I also have to admit that even the whole bad-singer shtick has started to wear a bit thin in recent years. At best, it's grown tiresome, and at its worst it's just downright cruel, such as when Cowell and his cronies have ridiculed some of the more mentally challenged contestants in recent years. Remember when Simon called that one poor kid a monkey?

When Idol debuted its new season this past week, I feared more of the same, and it looked like that was what I was going to get. You had your token William Hung in that Korean kid who whispered his broken English through "All By Myself." Yuk, Yuk, Yuk.

The freaks were equally represented by some goth-ghoul who looked like a cross between Marilyn Manson and Latoya Jackson. The righteously indignant rejects had their man for the season in the guy who stormed off screaming "Mary J. Blige can't sing a damn lick," middle fingers flying proudly for all of America to see.

Business as usual, right? But then along came 62 year old General Larry Platt with his "Pants on The Ground."


All Rights to American Idol And FOX Television

Basically you can look at the whole "Pants On The Ground" phenomenon in a number of ways. You can see it as the short-term viral joke that it most likely is. You can also view it as a hopeful sign that the whole American Idol circus act may finally be close to having run its course, and that there may yet be hope for the pop music landscape it essentially ruined by reducing it to a game of survival of the fittest karaoke singer.

Personally though, I prefer to see General Larry Platt and his "Pants On The Ground" as a major artistic breakthrough. If we ever needed a Bob Dylan for the new millennium, we need it now. I submit to you that General Larry Platt may be that man. Hell, "Pants On The Ground" even has a ring to it not at all unlike "Like A Rolling Stone."

When you break down the lyrics, Platt also has a message that is every bit as relevant and socially conscious as anything by Dylan, Springsteen, or Neil Young. In fact, when Jimmy Fallon did the song the other night under the guise of Young on his late night TV show, he turned it into a beautiful and haunting plea to the inner-city youth of America. Judge for yourself:



If this version is ever released on CD, I'll be the first to buy it. Neil's just more my speed. But beyond that, the timely message of finding inner-strength and taking pride in who you are is clear in the lyrics "Hey, get your pants off the ground/ Lookin' like a fool with your pants on the ground/
Gold in the mouth, hat turned sideways/ Pants hit the ground."

This man is a major new discovery who might just be the poet that a new generation has been crying out for. General Platt isn't just a visionary songwriter — he's a true role model for the youth of America.

Besides all of that, the song itself has a hook that is simply unstoppable. Given a choice between Platt's soulful funk and the non-stop parade of faceless singers and irritating-all-over-the-place vocals that Idol dishes up year after year, I'll take Platt and his "Pants" any day.

Like Dylan and his ever-present croak, Platt also clearly understands the art of phrasing and control. A focus on a single turn of phrase for emphasis says more than cramming as many as octaves as is humanly possible into a single line ever will. General Larry Platt knows this.

Put this guy in a studio with someone like Timbaland, and for my money the possibilities are endless, as the numerous amateur remixes already out there clearly demonstrate (one of my favorites of which is featured in the video below). Even without the studio gimmickry, though, the acapella performance from Idol is catchier than anything on the last several Kanye West albums — and Platt doesn't even need autotune.



Personally I still like Fallon's dead-on, close-your-eyes-and-you'd-swear-it-was-him Neil Young version the best — even if it isn't actually by Neil Young. But those crazy kids today will probably demand something a bit more contemporary and upbeat. Whatever it takes is what I say.

Pop music has never needed a new savior more than it does right now, and America could do a whole lot worse than General Larry Platt. With the heart of a poet and the soul of a bluesman, he is the total package. He even has a damn catchy name with that "General" moniker of his. Record industry take note, 'cause this is the answer to all of your prayers these past ten years or so.

Think I'm kidding? Think again. And if it seems like I may be a few days late in coming to the party, I respectfully disagree. The party in Platt's pants is just getting started.

Repeat after me:

Pants on the ground pants on the ground
Lookin' like a fool with your pants on the ground
with the gold in your mouth, hat turned sideways, pants hit the ground,
call yourself a cool cat
lookin' like a fool
Walking downtown with your pants on the ground...

Has it really come to this? One can only hope.

More Neil Young Hilarity: Southern California Brings Me Down

Neil Young Covers Pants On The Ground!



I have a newfound respect for Jimmy Fallon...

R.I.P. Teddy Pendergrass 1950 - 2010

In Celebration Of King Crimson's Lizard...Sort Of

Music Review: King Crimson - Lizard (40th Anniversary Deluxe Edition)

I have to be honest here and say that when King Crimson's third album Lizard was originally released back in 1970, I was for the most part pretty underwhelmed by it.

What I remember most about it — and to put things in their proper perspective, I was about fourteen years old at the time — was just how foreign and just plain weird it sounded to me. In fairness, the albums two predecessors were pretty different sounding at the time as well.

But KC's debut album In The Court Of The Crimson King also really grabbed you by the throat from the get-go with the fuzzed-out guitar, treated vocals, and off-kilter sax of "21st Century Schizoid Man." Even after the initial blast of that great opener, it managed to hold you in its grip through the mellower, but gorgeous textures of the title track and "I Talk To The Wind." It was different for sure, but definitely in a good way.

Lizard on the other hand? Well, Lizard just sounded plain weird.


On this latest installment of Crimson's ongoing 40th Anniversary series of deluxe remasters, Lizard still sounds pretty out there. What becomes clear in hindsight forty years after the fact however, is that King Crimson were actually blazing some pretty amazing new musical territory at the time with this album.

Like the other albums in this series, Porcupine Tree's Steven Wilson has once again overseen the remastered version (with the blessing of Crimson's Robert Fripp). And once again, Wilson has done an amazing job on the new 2009 stereo mix.

The music itself is still as curious sounding as ever. The saxes blare and the flutes drift in and out of the same songs, and are played in the same strange time signatures. Even now, all these years later, they also often echo every excess and cliche' that could ever be leveled against the seventies prog-rock of the time.

What's different here though is the absolutely stunning sonic clarity of it all. On the opening track "Cirkus," Fripp's flamenco flavored acoustic guitar flourishes in particular really stand out in contrast to the otherwise busy sound of Mel Collins' saxophones and Andy McCullough's drums. Even if the odd time signature shifts and abrupt starts and stops sound as confusing as ever, the fact that Fripp's tasty licks rise to the surface here more than makes up for it. Like I said, Wilson's mix really clears up a lot of the muck here.

Speaking of stops and starts though, "Indoor Games" is still, for better or for worse, the blueprint for every bad Gentle Giant album which followed. The point at the time seemed to be to cram every musical trick in the book into the song but the kitchen sink itself.

As clever as all the backwards-masked vocals and odd time signatures may have sounded then, it likewise reeks of prog-rock cliche today. Sorry guys, but tech-prowess and musical chops aside, there is still something to be said for the art of simple, but effective songcraft. Sometimes less really is more.

The separation in Wilson's remix still makes this track something of a wet dream for guys who make their living selling stereo systems though. Even if the song itself still makes little sense, the recording is pretty amazing. I guess it comes down to whether you prefer the song or the sound.

The title track is likewise kind of all over the place just as I remember it was back then. Jon Anderson's vocal still gives it that sort of mystical Yes quality though. Audiophiles, and David Byrne/Peter Gabriel fans, take note.

So now to the bonus features. No video on the DVD here, but there are high resolution stereo mixes in both lossless surround sound and DTS 5.1 surround. If you happen to own one of those window-rattling high-end home theatre systems, and are dying to wake the neighbors up, then this is the disc for you. Both the DVD and CD also include bonus tracks and alternate mixes.

As a stand alone album, I would still judge Lizard as one of the lesser works in the King Crimson canon.

But that's probably just me. The 40th Anniversary deluxe edition of Lizard hits stores January 19.

Are No-Man Secretly Steven Wilson's Best Guitar Based Band?

Music DVD Review: No-Man - Mixtaped

This is an absolutely fabulous live document, let me say that much right up front.

But I also have to admit that it's a little weird to see Porcupine Tree's Steven Wilson playing before a live audience in what amounts to mostly a sideman role. What a sideman he is by the way. But more on that in a minute.

On Mixtaped, unlike his live DVD sets with both PT and Blackfield, Wilson doesn't say two words to his audience throughout this entire DVD.

In fairness, frontman and vocalist Tim Bowness barely does either. Well okay, he does thank the audience a couple times and also intros the song "Days In The Trees" by saying perhaps No-Man should play at least one song that was played during their last appearance at London's Bush Hall (the one captured here is from 2008). But even then, he never smiles.



But it is exactly this undertone of deadly seriousness that works so perfectly within a group like this one. Even the chandeliers hanging from the ceiling suggest high-brow, but in the case of No-Man this is definitely a good thing.

Visually speaking, Bowness is a picture of that earnest sort of seriousness. His eyes are often closed tightly, as though completely engrossed in every word he sings, and he doesn't really move about all that much. You could probably even accuse Bowness of being somewhat wooden onstage.

In terms of his actual voice, the best word I could use to describe it is dramatic — perhaps even to the point of being slightly overwrought. Think of a slightly less gay Marc Almond from Soft Cell and you wouldn't be that far off.

The criticisms end there however. Bowness's voice works perfectly well within the context of No-Man's songs.

Genre-wise, No-Man can be really all over the map — they've incorporated elements of everything from electronic trip-hop to avant-jazz on their studio albums. But the common thread — at least most of the time — is the lush, and yes moody, romantic pop that is at the center of No-Man's best work. In that respect, Bowness's voice is a perfect fit for what they do.

But back to this DVD.

Officially, No-Man exists as the duo of Wilson and Bowness. Onstage, they are fleshed out by a full compliment of bass, drums, keyboard, violin and a second guitarist. The transformation of these songs from their studio creations to the more fleshed-out live versions is nothing short of a jaw-dropper — and Wilson in particular is a revelation on guitar.

I never expected a No-Man concert to be more of a showcase for Wilson's guitar work than a Porcupine Tree show, but that is indeed the case here. Wilson doesn't so much shred the way he does with PT here, but rather just fills the room with waves of gorgeous harmonic sound.

On songs like "Time Travel In Texas" and especially the feedback-drenched workout on "Mixedtape," Wilson's guitar is absolutely out-of-this-world sounding. The sounds that Wilson gets out of that green Les Paul knockoff and those pedals of his — which he plays barefoot! — sound positively unearthly. On a slightly slowed down version of "Days In The Trees," Wilson's guitar textures weave effortlessly in and out of Steve Bingham's very cool looking see-through violin. Second guitarist Michael Bearpark is no slouch either.

I should also make mention of the sound on this DVD. Both the 5.1 and the stereo mixes sound great, and they do a wonderful job of separating the many layers of this very complex music. You hear every single nuance, from the simple jazzy flourishes of the drums, to the colors provided by the synthesized strings and violin, to all of that beautiful noise emanating from Steven Wilson's guitar.

Mixtaped also comes with a second disc that includes an 85-minute documentary film about No-Man's career. Among the more interesting revelations found here are how the "daisy age" hip-hop of bands like De La Soul and Tribe Called Quest influenced No-Man, and the fact that Porcupine Tree was in fact once considered a side project for Wilson. There are also a number of No-Man videos included here.

But the biggest revelation of Mixtaped is the way it reveals a previously unknown, new side of No-Man's sound. You'd never know it from the studio records, but in concert this may just be Steven Wilson's best guitar-based band.