The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Wednesday, October 25, 2006 - 5A
Celebrity babies
and blow, redux
Another week, another ill-
advised marriage.
Emerging from a coke-
induced stupor long enough to
make a trip to the pharmacy, model
Kate Moss recently -
learned she is preg-
nant with the child of r
boyfriend and frequent
rehabber Pete Doherty.
to response to the news,
Doherty proposed to 4n
Moss, cementing them
as possibly the most
dysfunctional family PUNIT
in media history. Given MATT
the duo's proficient and
public drug habits, doctors likened
the baby to the drug-smuggling
dolls of "Traffic." Sure it looks
completely normal, but drop that
baby in water and it's all yayo.
As for (purportedly) real babies,
Suri Cruise will always be a bas-
tard in my mind, but Tom Cruise
and Katie Holmes will finallymarry
Nov.18 at his Italian villa, exactly 19
months after their first date. Guests
were notified that they should be
free that weekend, and Scientolo-
gists worldwide marked down their
newestholiday. Theinevitablemedia
blitz that began after the couple was
spotted as a couple kicked into over-
drive with magazines clamoring for
details and stationing their helicop-
ters. As of now, the only real news
occurred when Giorgio Armani
confirmed that he will design the
wedding dress. Cruise's suit will be
courtesy of NASA.
Butbackto thenose candy:Nicole
Kidman's new husband, country-
pop singer Keith Urban, checked
into rehab recently. While croon-
ing saccharine lyrics to crowds of
Republican femmes might seem
like enough torture to make you
reevaluate their purpose for liv-
ing, Urban simply turns to good
old rock. He decided to go to rehab
the first time when he realized the
desperation of crawling around a
crack house at 5 a.m., searching for
any last remnants to smoke. The
story's almost the same this time,
too. Well, except Urban probably
realized it after rolling over in bed
at 5 a.m., seeing whose Botox-rid-
den body he'd just screwed.
Speaking of destructive relation-
ships, O.J. Simpson is supposedly
looking to profit from the death of
his wife. Always desperate for cash
to cover his expensive legal bills,
Simpson will reportedly be paid
approximately $3.5 million
to "admit" to the killing
of Nicole Brown and Ron
Goldman. His upcoming
"fictional" autobiography,
titled If I Did It, will detail
how he would have killed
his ex-wife and Gold-
man. Look for Simpson to
release a special edition
00 with video evidence of him
committing the murders,
a taped confession and pictures
of him covered in their blood. All
hypothetical, of course.
Accusations of physical vio-
lence sparked up stateside discus-
sion concerning Paul McCartney's
divorce from Heather Mills..
Leaked divorce documents (thank
you underpaid employees!) con-
tained stories of the usually
friendly McCartney attacking her
violently on four different occa-
Examples of why
half of marriages
end in divorce.
sions, including one instance in
which he stabbed her arm with
a broken wine glass. The former
Beatle apparently also continued
his Sgt. Peppers's experience with
a healthy diet of drugs and booze.
Perhaps the most callous events
involve his degrading behavior
toward Mills because of her ampu-
tated leg, sometimes forcing her to
crawl to their bathroom.
The incidents inevitably led
to caustic British-comedian wit
unheard of since the days of Diana.
My favorite joke? A TV reporter
asked McCartney if, based on his
failed marriage, he'd ever go down
on one knee again. He replied, "I'd
prefer ifyou called her Heather."
Ob-la-di, ob-la-damn, son.
- Mattoo can be reached
at mattoop@umichedu.
Just
push
Play
DIDDY MAKES HIS
MARK, WITH A LITTLE
HELP FROM FRIENDS
By ANDREW KAHN
Daily Arts Writer
Diddy is not the best lyricist to step in the
booth. He's been accused of riding the posthu-
mous coattails of Biggie for several years now,
and critics have often
said his early success was
undeserved, claiming he Press Play
was incapable of produc-
ing a song without the aid Diddy
of a sample. Despite all
this, he's still managed to lad Boy
remain in the public eye
for the past decade, a feat that's as much a testa-
ment to his music's commercial value as it is to
his numerous publicity stunts.
No one has ever accused Diddy of being lazy.
Not when he was Puff Daddy, not when he was
P. Diddy and certainly not now. In addition to
heading Bad Boy Entertainment, his clothing
line and popular NYC restaurant have pro-
pelled the international superstar to Donald
Trump-like status. He also develops chart-top-
ping artists - most recently, Danity Kane of
"Making the Band 3" fame. The effort paid off:
The group's album debuted at No. 1. While men-
toring the group, Diddy still found time to work
on his solo project.
Press Play, which is technically Diddy's only
second proper album (except for 1999's Forever,
his other album titles all included the Bad Boy
Family), is by no means a solo effort. Like all
of his prior projects, it's saturated with guests.
No doubt Diddy has musical talent as a rapper
(as with Nelly, he understands what it takes
to make a hit record), but perhaps his greatest
attribute is his matchmaking ability - he has
an acute ear for who will sound good on which
tracks.
This ability is evident on songs like "Tell Me"
and "Last Night." The former is a Just Blaze-
produced banger composed of a constant drum
roll under repetitive synths - it's the type of
song best played at a high volume. Diddy could
have thrown any nameless female on the hook,
but being the perfectionist he is, he went out and
Courtesy of Bad B
"Actually the girl's other hand that isn't visible? It's searching for the rest of my street cred."
got arguably the best pop voice in the industry,
Christina Aguilera. The wise selection results
in one of the strongest songs on the album, as
Aguilera's vocal range always impresses. She
sounds fantastically seductive while staying
perfectly on key.
Recruiting the underrated Keyshia Cole for
"Last Night" was also fitting. There's no rap-
ping on the song; Diddy and Cole sing to each
other and achieve an unexpected harmony over
hard kicks and a backdrop of strings and elec-
tronic piano.
Diddy does his best Biggie impression on
"Hold Up," showing off some impressive lyrical
ability: "Tell a friend warn a brother / About my
splurges, merges with Warner Brother, / Thugs
actin' funny 'cus chicks call me honey / See a
nine figga nigga makin' Bugs Bunny money."
He also sparkles on "We Gon' Make It," a
D-Dot-helmed track that sounds like one of
Kanye West's soulful creations. The song uses
the same sample as Jay-Z's recent single "Show
Me What You Got," the leadoff to his comeback
record. It's notable that these two New York rap
veterans are comfortable sharing the sample,
but ultimately assemble drastically different
songs.
There are clearly several solid tracks, but can
listeners simply press play, kick back and listen
straight through the album? With some weak
songs bunched in the middle of the album, they
could - but they'd probably get bored. While
the guests worked to Diddy's advantage on the
aforementioned songs as suitable complements,
on several tracks they simply outshine him (Nas
on "Everything I Love," Big Boi on "Wanna
Move").
But Diddy explores new territory on this
album, which is commendable for a veteran
artist. The rap mogul provides something for
everyone - he hasn't forgotten how to make
you move and he's acquired a few new tricks
as well. Press Play is littered with R&B songs
and even a funky throwback to the early days
of hip hop. Sure, Diddy's delivery is somewhat
monotone, but he makes up for it with a likeable
personality and unrelenting energy. Press Play
is his overdue emergence asa complete artist.
Unorthodox folkies delve into the
strange and absurd on latest release
By LAUREL CHARTOW
Daily Arts Writer
As James Joyce once said, lov-
ing someone
is knowing **
you'll never
truly know Meek
that person - Warrior
you're doomed Akron/Family
to share bed-
sheets and Young God
children with
a devoted, complete stranger.
Considering this, you can at
least appreciate (if not love) the
latest album, Meek Warrior, from
the freak-folk ingenues Akron/
Family. In accepting the elusive,
enigmatic nature of the album, the
listener can never quite become
attached to it, but it's still possible
to be thoroughly satisfied with it.
On "Meek Warrior" Akron/Fam-
ily is committed to captivating the
listener, but not necessarily the
listener's imagination or heart.
Akron/Family's psychedelic,
estranged folk is clearly influ-
enced by Devendra Banhart, Led
Zeppelin, The Beatles and Ani-
mal Collective. The group's style
has a scattered sound, to pleasing
effect.
The disjointed nature of the
album is exemplified by opener
"Blessing Force," a nine-minute
schizophrenic musical journey,
stopping and turning frequently
with its jarring juxtapositions of
drone-rock, sax mania, mando-
lin folk explorations and nervous
group chanting.
The rest of the album is driven
by insistent, wincing folk-yearns,
and it fully reaches its stride by
"No Space in this Realm," an Ani-
mal Collective-esque tune carried
by repetition of a single strummed
guitar chord. Accompanying the
effect, the group sing-chants and returns to the concept of dis-
"Space is love" as if slightly drunk, tance in the final track, "Love and
Space." It's a song that uses sparse
simplicity to affecting, disturbing
Disjointed album results.
With such exploratory tracks,
succeeds through the listener should walk away
from Meek Warrior cognizant of
diversity of sound. Akron/Family's views on emotion,
distance and the danger of blend-
ing the two together.
lolling around a faraway cow-field Even for that, it's strange how
campfire. Akron/Family purposefully dis-
Woven from beautiful ostinato tances themselves from the lis-
guitar strains and an ebbing vocal tener with the first few tracks,
line, the next track, "Lightning resulting in a lacksadasical mood.
Bolt of Compassion," provides the That said, the album ends very
album's closest exercise in genuine strongly - but at that point it
emotiveness. The vocals recall the might be too late. While this is not
dreamy croon of Paul McCartney. to say that the album is complete-
The album regains some of ly unrewarding, it's undeniable
the quirky speed from "Bless- that Akron/Family's last album, a
ing Space" with "Dolphin Song" 2005 split release with labelmates
(containing ridiculous lyrics like Angels of Light, certainly bares
"Sky High / the dolphin flies"), more teeth than Meek Warrior.
"Yes, the meek shall inherit the Earth, yes"
4 D A
i