week 2:
for love of mixtapes; god is a dj (and his name is fred); wyclef returns; A-HA RETURNS (!); the twenty greatest songs ever scientifically determined by a three man panel consisting of me, myself and i; oh, and, boobs.

week 3:
get drawn to the magnetic fields; three movies that are grossly overrated; some of the greatest movies...ever; xtc murders love...again; james brown breaks out in a "cold sweat"; morrissey and springsteen...separated at birth?; i bare my soul...again; and MORE!

week 4:
gladiator slays me, eminem and xtc reviews, a new look!, i poke fun at my own writing, the inmates take over the asylum, and MORE!

other blogs i like:
(because they're out there, you know)
nylpm
blue lines
josh's blog
westernhomes
log.nu
skykicking
pearls that are his eyes
catherine's pita
public blog
i drank WHAT?
cultural artifacts of the moment
frytopia

EMINEM - THE MARSHALL MATHERS LP

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it's hard to determine who's more disturbed: slim shady or marshall mathers. honestly, i never listened to the entire slim shady album -- i'd heard all i needed to in the singles. eminem was one of the most hyped members of the underground, and having heard some of his early tracks, it was easy to see why: he has a wonderfully perverse sense of humor, he's excellent at constructing complex rhymes, and he has one of those voices that are just born to make hooks, e.g. sadat x or slick rick. however, his major label debut seemed patched together to capitalize on the success of "my name is..."; it looked like we had another ras kass on our hands, an immense talent who disappointed when moving out of the underground.

the slim shady persona was that of an obviously troubled individual, but he was a caricature, a cartoon. if by entitling the album the marshall mathers lp, eminem intended on giving you a glimpse of what the real person is like, God save us all. three million or so records later, eminem is back and, i'm glad to say, is better and worse than ever (better musically, worse psychologically which makes for a better album, but not a better person, and since i don't have to live with him, i prefer the former) -- the dreaded sophomore curse is nowhere in evidence here. when most artists who emerge from obscurity and are launched into the spotlight release their second album, it's often the one where they denounce fame and stardom and talk about how it's ruined their life. eminem, as i'm sure you're already aware, is not like most artists. his new-found celebrity brings an evil glint to his eye, as he relishes the idea of using the soapbox he's been given to be as bad as he wants to be.

after the opening psa, eminem kicks off the proceedings with the comical (we hope) "kill you," which features a simple chorus of "bitch, i'ma kill you" and is bolstered by a sing-songy voice adding, "you don't wanna fuck with shady, cos shady will fucking kill you." it honestly is funny, but you, like me, may not agree upon first listen. the more you listen, though, the more you find that it fits in perfectly on this (usually) delightfully over-the-top album. "usually" is used to qualify because there's an exception (and, oh!, what an exception) in the grisly "kim," the prequel to "bonnie and clyde" from slim shady. it's harrowing -- utterly engaging and unlistenable at the same time; the fact that it hasn't caused a firestorm of controversy should be cause for alarm, and it's certain to split listeners. whatever your thoughts on it, credit should be given to eminem for creating something so provocative and powerful -- call it the aural equivalent of the blair witch project ("oh, it couldn't possibly be true...could it?").

standouts abound on this album: the goth-hop of "the way i am" which is eminem's apologia; current chart hit, "the real slim shady," with its video game soundtrack and pop culture references aplenty; the deep bassline and hilarious puffy-baiting on "i'm back"; the introspective, though unfortunately homophobic, "marshall mathers" with its spare backing of vibes, keys, drums with an echoey cymbal, and a buzzing guitar that ends the song (dre's new trick, it seems). the strength of the production, mostly helmed by dr. dre, should not go by unnoted -- it takes a person with eminem's star power to keep from playing the background to the stirring beats on display. it's been said before, and it should be said again: dre exists on another level when it comes to hip-hop producers. no one has his musicality or his arranging skills; he knows when to keep the beats minimal and when to let the funk flow.

of all the bizarre and surprising things found on the mmlp, none is more astonishing than learning that eminem possesses a social conscious. "stan," featuring dido of faithless on vocal duties, has the sighing atmospherics (!) and the breezy acoustic guitar (!) of a ballad (!), and possesses lyrics that should be studied by every young mc out there. many people i've encountered tell me how overrated they think eminem is as a lyricist: listen this song and find yourself slack-jawed. the first several verses are letters from a fan of eminem's named stan. with each new letter, stan becomes more and more troubled, taking eminem's lyrics to heart, until he finally commits unthinkable atrocities. the last verse is eminem's reply which belies his image and shows that he is just human at heart; unfortunately, it arrives too late to help anyone involved.

things peter out towards the end of the album with too many cliches and stereotypes coming to the fore. still, the mmlp is a thought-provoking and uncompromising work that demands your attention and one that suggests a wide-open future. we're confronted with many contradictions, namely an eminem who doesn't give a fuck and an eminem who does. or is it marshall who cares? or is it slim shady who doesn't? it gets very confusing, but after listening to the album, you get the feeling that eminem wouldn't want it any other way.