I hate to be the only one posting here, but I digress. Anyway, lets pretend it’s SUnday and not Thursday and I’m not 4 days late and get on with the program. Anyway, this isn’t the greatest southren rap album ever. Hell, it isn’t even the group’s best album (That would be Chapter 2: World domination). However, it’s thier most important album, not only for the group, but for Memphis and the south. At the time of it’s release, it was the first album Three six as a group had put out in 3 years, since 97’s chapter 2. It was the last album before HCP came apart almost and lost Koopsta (One has to wonder why he wasn’t shown on the cover or any of the artwork, even though he was featured on several songs on the album) and Gangsta Boo (along with several others). Even though this album helped blow up Three Six mafia nationwide, the group still has yet to get thier just due. It contained the singles “Sippin on some syrup”, “Who run it”, and “Tongue Ring”, which are probably the most well-known singles released from this group. Also on this album are the songs “weak ass bitch” and “Jealous ass bitches” which take shots at all the haters jealous of thier success. Ex No limit soldiers Fiend and Mr. Serv On appear on “Touched with it”, and Insane clown possee and Twiztid appear on “Just another crazy click”. Other guests include Bigg Gipp of the goodie mob, and then-HCP members T-Rock, La Chat, and MC Mack.

Mel Brooks’ 1968 directorial debut The Producers won him an Oscar for his original screenplay, and earned Gene Wilder his first Oscar nomination, but for years remained relatively little known compared to Brooks’ later genre parodies like Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, and Spaceballs. But it was always a favorite in my family, and over the past few years I was pleased to see The Producers take on a second life as a hugely successful stage musical starring Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick, which meant that finally “Springtime For Hitler” really was a Broadway smash. And since the waiting lists and ticket prices for the Broadway run meant I’d probably never get a chance to see it live, I was glad they decided to make a movie version of the musical so I could see for myself what they did with it.

Although I still highly reccomend the 1968 version to any fan of the musical, it’s very clear from the jump that 2005’s The Producers is a very different beast, and much more was changed in the translation to Broadway than the addition of a few more songs. But since Mel Brooks was still intimately involved in the writing of the stage book and the new screenplay, the new scenes and new jokes retain the inimitable Brooks voice of the original. And at 134 minutes, compared to the original’s 88 minutes, a whole slew of new scenes and subplots are present. The role of Ulla, which was relatively small and received 7th billing in the original, is beefed up to 3rd billing for Uma Thurman’s perfect performance in the new version (Uma…Ulla…Uma…Ulla…I wonder if Letterman is excited to make note of this role). And one of my favorite characters in the original, Lorenzo St. DuBois (aka L.S.D.) is gone entirely to make more room for Will Ferrell’s Franz Liebkind.

At over 2 hours, The Producers definitely felt a bit overlong for a comedy, especially compared to the original’s brisk pacing. Movie audiences might’ve benefitted from the same intermission that Broadway audiences got. But it seems as if director Susan Stroman, who also directed the play, was hesitant to cut any of the handful of songs and scenes that could’ve been lost. And I sometimes found myself wishing the movie didn’t feel so much like a stage production minus the audience. That said, the movie had constant laughs and great performances. I’m a huge fan of Gene Wilder in the original and count it among his top 3 performances ever, and Matthew Broderick was definitely paying homage with his take on the role, although sometimes he lapsed into mere impersonation. And though Nathan Lane diverged more from Zero Mostel’s perfect performance in the original, he makes the role his own, particularly in the song and dance sequences.

On first viewing, I had to get over a little of the shock of just how much the filmmakers changed from the original, but now that I know that, I look forward to enjoying the 2005 version for what it is in future viewings. And every time I started to feel as if the original spirit of the original had been tossed out the window, they preserved some small detail that I loved, like the fact that Mel Brooks once again dubbed his voice for the storm trooper who says “Don’t be shtupid, be a shmarty, come and join the Nazy party!”

Outkast is one of ATL’s most creative groups, and this new album is no exception. This double CD consists of two solo albums from both of the group’s members, Big Boi and Andre 3000. BIg BOi’s CD is what you would expect from a traditional Outkast album (if such a thing exists), which means banging southren beats and deep lyrics from Daddy phat sax. GUest appearences from various members of the dungeon family, Jay Z, and Ludacris help round this out. Burst, Rewind, and Ghetto Muzik stay on repeat whenever I put this disk on. Andre’s half goes far away from the norm as an all singing LP, so it may not be for everyone, but I definently like it. Kelis, and Nora Jones show up to do guest appearences here. You live in my lap is the perfect make out song, while Valentines day has a catchy little beat. BIg boi shows up on ROses as well. THier next LP, Idlewild will be dropping soon, ending any lingering rumors of the dynamic duo breaking up.

This album came out in the summer of 2003. I picked it up becuase I liked the single cadalliac on 24s. I burned it and another song to my xbox hard drive and forgot about it. 2 years later, I pulled it out just to have something to bump in my ride, and I discovered how G.O.A.T this cd was. When ‘I’m serious’ came out in 2001, I thought to myself that this would be just another one of those flash-in-the-pan-flavor-of-the-month southren MCS who get a deal today and drop off the face of the earth tomorrow. Boy was I wrong. The first few lines of “I can’t quit” a song about not quitting when things get tough describes my life precisely at this point. “I still luv you”, a song apoligizing to his girl, his father, and his daughter is probably one of the deepest songs ever from an artist down below. “beezle” is a dope track featuring three of the south’s top MCs, Eightball, MJG, and Bun B, and of course “24’s” isn’t bad either (considering that’s all I bought the album for). He followed it up late 2004 with “urban legend” and that isn’t a bad LP either. (I might even take a look at that later) TI earned some animosity when he proclaimed himself the King of the south(See Beef 3), but If he keeps dropping stuff like he has been, then hey may have very well earned that title.

The NEW 96.3 Star Country!! has eaten my favorite radio station, WMAD. I should’ve expected it when major alt-rock stations like WHFS in Washington DC and Y100 in Philadelphia have also gone off the air in the last year. What chance did my fun little Madison station have?
A lot of chance I though since WMAD was playing a great mix of current hits along with 90s alt-rock radio favorites. I could count on hearing System of a Down and “Underground” by Ben Folds Five in the same hour. But since it’s a Clear Channel station, it was ultimately doomed.
I guess its really time I got my iPod fixed since I’m NOT going to suddenly listen to WJJO all the time.

We haven’t had a whole lot of posts here lately, and I need a blantant excuse to do my new section, the down south rap album of the week. I hope to do this every saturday or sunday. Ganked and gaffled from my $20 game of the week, the focus here is to take a look at some good albums comming from a very underappreciated reigon in hip hop, the south. They may not be as complex as some of your west and east coast favorites, but they contribute a lot more to the rap game and music and general than someone people would realize or want to admit. I won’t talk your head off, but here we go.

And who better to kick off a section about an underappreciated reigon in music than one of it’s most underapprecriated artists, more so an ex member of one of the most underapprecriated groups in rap? Koopsta Knicca is an ex member of the memphis group, 3 – 6 mafia. he was kicked out the group shortly after “when the smoke clears” was released in 2000, and has released several albums since then. THis is his 4th album since leaving the group, and his material gets better with every release, although he has a bad habit of recycling old material. (THis release contains 3 songs from last year’s ‘the inevitable’) Although he is angry about not getting much radio play and being overshadowed by his former group mates, he is definently more mature about the situation. Tracks to check out here are ‘Life in bondage’, ‘wanksta’, ‘Becuase of you’, and ‘everlast’. In the liner notes it says to look out for Devil’s playground volume 2. I hope he can keep himself out of trouble long enough, becuase I’ll be looking forward to it.

The Chronicles of Narnia Rap
Missed this when it was on SNL, hilarious. Chris Parnell stregnthens his reputation as the world’s greatest white rapper.

This is easily one of the best movies in the past decade. If not the best.
As an early birthday present to myself I finally grabbed The Iron Giant special edition DVD. While I’m not nearly as interested in bonus features and such on DVDs as I used to be, I’m super happy just to have this film in my collection.
Brad Bird, the visionary behind Pixar’s The Incredibles, brings Ted Hughes book to life as a visual and narrative masterwork. Its a simple tale of a robot who fell from the sky and is taken in by a young boy and taught wrong from right and bad from good. Cold War hysteria rears its ugly head and the Giant becomes the target of a government investigation with the aim of destroying him.
It sounds awfully simple and the kind of thing you’d expect from televised animation, but it really isn’t. Its a well plotted and well executed film with many layers. And unlike a lot of animated movies that drop in jokes intended to fly over the kids heads for the parents, The Iron Giant never dips that low and instead treats all viewers the same and allows them to understand the characters intents and morality in a very natural way. Theres no sexist humor, no brutal violence, and certainly not sugar coated or dumbed down.
This is the thinking man’s children’s movie. Its a magnificent example of how fantastic a child’s imagination and perception can really be. If kids really do pick up on all the bad media they take in, then its certainly possible for them to learn about being good and kind and accepting others and not jumping to conclusions from The Iron Giant.
I don’t know who might read this blog entry, but I feel strongly that if you’ve never seen this movie, at least rent it. And watch it with a kid. Its got ET, Bambi, and Superman all wrapped up into one and has enough heart to touch a viewer of any age or background.