The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Wednesday, December 5, 2007 - 5A R. Kelly vs. Marvin Gaye?Believe it Pushing' the death plot again love to argue about music, but most people don't. There does, though, seem tobe one person that alot of people have some pretty strong opinions about: Robert Kelly. Want to start a fight at a party or alienate your friends? Tell them that R. Kelly is the Mar- vin Gaye of our generation. I guar- antee the conversation doesn't end there. I really do believe that R. Kelly is a genius, and I don't bandy that term about lightly. So was Marvin Gaye; that's not even really up for debate. In fact, they're bril- liant for similar CARGO reasons, so why do people who revere the latter not take the former seriously? The argumentgenerally starts with "He sucks cause he pees on kids," which isn't really fair. Yes, he has been charged with as much, and the video is pretty damning, but that has absolutely nothing to do with his music. All sorts of bril- liant people have done far nastier things. We're able to separate their art from their messy personal lives but, for some reason, R. Kelly is a monster to many. Marvin Gaye had a sex addiction and a formidable porn collection, but no one holds that against him (rightfully so). To a lot of other people, R. Kelly is just a joke. "How can you take him remotelyseriously? He's, like, retarded!" is another familiar retort. No, he's like, funny. Humor is an element that's been missing from music for a little while now, but it wasn't always-so rare. R. Kelly isn't afraid to laugh at himself, to write ridiculous lyrics or make hilarious YouTube videos. And you know what? It works. The one thing no one can argue about is R. Kelly's undeniable suc- cess. He burst onto the R&B scene in 1992 with supporting band Pub- lic Announcement for his debut album, Born into the '90s, and has never looked back. Thirteen mega-selling albums and 15 years later he's still making hits. From "I Believe I Can Fly" to "Ignition (Remix)" to "Real Talk," he's never let up, still on top of the charts and in heavy rotation even while wrapped up in controversy. I'm talking about hits he writes, produces and records himself. Hits he's written for other people, hits that he's sung with other people - and I'm nottalking about Ashanti and Ja Rule. I'm talking about The Notorious B.I.G., Jay-Z, Nas and Michael Jackson. Those guys respected him, and no one would ever shit on their tastes or accom- plishments. Sales don't mean every- thing - a lot of people I'd say aren't talented sell a lot of albums, but lon- gevity and the ability to evolve with trends are something only great artists can claim. As for the Marvin Gaye com- parison, I'm not sure I would put R. Kelly's voice on par with the Motown crooner, but the two stack up similarly, both having an innate skill for songs of the erotic variety. Quick, which one wrote "You Sure Love to Ball" and which one wrote "Honey Love"? There's not so much of a difference here, and one could even argue that Kelly's sex meta- phors are abit more skillful. Sure, "The Zoo" and "Sex Planet" aren't the type of songs that have women droppingtheir panties, but that's hardly the point. R. Kelly has successfullyturned into a parody of himself, and whether you believe he's in on the joke or not, he's entertaining. Case in point: Trapped in the Closet. A brilliant, somewhat original format Kelly dubbed "Hip-Hopera" and released in chapters was such a hit it got the ultimate honor of a South Park parody. That R. Kelly is a genius because he's a supremely talented joke and Marvin Gaye was a genius because of his social and erogenous sensitiv- ity is where people usually gethung up. But that's when "... of our gen- eration" part comes in. That comparison is serious, but it's also an indictment of where music and its social conscience have gone. The fact that hip hop has lost perspective on the original voice of its creators and their intents isn't R. Kelly's fault, and ina lot of ways, he's turned things back around. R. Kelly isn't being taken advantage of, and I think a lot of people are scared of him because of it. You don't have to love the man or his music to recognize his accom- plishments and judge him onthose merits. R. Kelly is a tremendous artist and, as I'm fond of saying, the second black Jesus (the first is the normal Jesus). - Cargo's second-favorite topic? Tally Hall. Loves those guys. E-mail him at Ihcargo@umich.edu. Sometimes cute, sometimes too much so, 'Daisies' still satisfies By JOHN DAAVETTILA Daily Arts Writer Death has been a focal point of many television series - "The Ghost Whisperer" and "Six Feet Under" for two opposite shin examples - yet PLig unlike most of Daisies these shows, "Pushing Dai- Wednesdays sies" gives the at 8 p.m. subject new ABC life. Ned (Lee Pace, "Wonderfalls") is a pie monger with a unique talent: He can bring the dead back to life with one touch. With pri- vate detective Emerson Cod (Chi McBride, "Boston Public") and re-animated childhood sweet- heart Charlotte "Chuck" Charles (Anna Friel, "Niagara Motel"), he solves murder mysteries and pulls shenanigans along the way. The show's storybook feel and enhanced,eye-catchingcolors are ingenious. The characters are as colorful as the scenery, possess- ing hilarious quirks and twitches without being over-the-top to the point of unrealistic. Cod is a good example of this: Breaking his stereotype as the stoic detective, Cod knits to relieve stress. After only a few episodes, sweaters and gun-cozies clutter his office. So far "Daisies" hasn't fea- tured many guest stars. It's mainly been, "Oh, it's that guy! I remember him from ... some- where." But the first (semi) big name came last week with the arrival of Molly Shannon of "Sat- urday Night Live." The show's carefree spirit-- not to mention the fantastic wardrobe of '50s- style cinched waists, tropical shirts and stiletto heels - will likely attract even more stars. But the show's lighthearted- ness often comes at a hyper-cute cost. It sometimes tends to dive too far into the "separated lov- ers" bit with Ned and Chuck, who exchange dialogue that would make a kitten roll its eyes. Calling hugs "an emotional Heimlich" or kissing through plastic wrap gets syrupy pretty fast. "Daisies" also occasionally falls into "Scooby Doo" levels of predictability. As usual, the killer is always the least likely suspect. For example, during the search for the killer of Billy Bal- sam (Mike White, "The School of Rock") the taffy storeowner, the audience is drawn to two charac- ters: the conniving Dilly Balsam (Molly Shannon) and the health inspector. Balsam's fiery tem- perament targets her as the all- too-likely suspect, so the health inspector remains the only other possibility. Thankfully, instead of giving the program a sitcom- like quality where everything is resolved by the end of each epi- sode, the writers expand upon previous arcs to keep viewers guessing. "Pushing Daisies" keeps get- ting better with more original stars and intricate plots. Even if the show doesn't suit your imme- diate fancy, anyone can appre- ciate the Technicolor Motion Picture Corporation magic. Plus, with its 8 p.m. time slot, viewers have nothing else to watch but "Kid Nation." At least "Pushing Daisies" has dialogue other than "deal with it." BEANIE SIGEL FT. R. KELLY "ALL THE an anthem for the business thug person- ABOVE" ality, "All the Above" is it. 0 CHRIS GAERIG Some say only white, indie dilatants listen to R. Kelly for any sort of plea- sure anymore, laughing at his outland- ish concepts ("Sex Weed" and "Trapped in the Closet"). But haters be damned, the guy can fucking sing. Most recently recruited for the opener of Beanie Sigel's upcoming album The Solution, Kel's boisterous claims ("I'm hood, I'm street / Still standing in the middle of the beat / I'm a mack, I'm a thug") sear through the cinematic production of "All the Above" while Sigel's chic Roc-A-Fella flows ramble alongside. If ever there was DESTROYER "FOAM HANDS" So maybe The New Pornographers' Challengers wasn't what it should have been. Luckily, Dan Bejar is still a bailer. He spearheaded some of the best on the album, and let's face it - we're all going through beard withdrawal. Destroyer's latest, "Foam Hands," finds Bejar in his trademark slippery-crooning form accompanied by the typical jingle-jangle rising action, a well-placed, subtle guitar solo and an everything-is-OK whistling interlude. It's Bejar on a Sunday morn- ing. It's Bejar on his front porch. It's Bejar with an, um, foam hand? At least most things are all right in Destroyer land. MATT EMERY GHOSTFACE KILLAH FT. BEANIE SIGEL AND STYLES P "TONY SIGEL A K A THE BARREL BROTHERS" When the first turntable scratches suppress the fading electric guitar on "Tony Sigel a.k.a. the Barrel Brothers," it's obvious Ghostface Killah isn't look- ing to play games. He screams, "Straight out the ghetto, I'm damn hood" over the intoxicated beat: guitars and hazy key- boards fighting for room tobreathe as the bass drum kicks along the upbeat. Beanie Sigel and Styles P (both with upcoming albums) drop solid flows but wisely fall in line behind the prophetic Ghostface. Not tobe completely outshined, though, Sigel spits "You gonna have to cut me out of the track like cancer" as the track climbs to its climactic end. CHRIS GAERIG HOT CHIP "READY FOR THE FLOOR" I still can't quite tell if I should take Hot Chip seriously. Its title track from 2006's The Warning says it'll "Snap off your head." Whatever, the shit is still addicting and so is "Ready for the Floor" from its forthcoming LP. There's a little bit of disco, still more spastic electro- Psst. He's holding his emotional organ! dance, but maybe a bit too much rep- etition in one of their more uninspired beats. The elements almost feel too con- sistent and their playful charm might have - gulp - taken a hit? Good thing its fun-loving vocals salvage the potentially damaged goods. Just check the Joker- inspired, paint-tossing music video for further proof. They'll be just fine. MATT EMERY KEVIN DREW "AGE OF CONSENT" Broken Socialite Kevin Drew is at it again. After the release of his beautiful Spiritlif.. earlier this year, he returns with a cover of New Order's "Age of Consent." The cover melodramati- cally paddles along a river of sustained pianos and tense dead air. Though the track never seems togo anywhere, Drew's exasperated moans are more affecting than the original and carry the track's delicately beautiful senti- ment. "I've never met anyone like you before" he hums as the keyboards become heartbreakingly distant while Drew sounds exponentially drained. He repeats the line before the track fades away on the same tortured piano that carried it throughout. CHRIS GAERIG THE MAGNETIC FIELDS"THREE- WAY" Remember laying in bed a few sum- mers ago when all your windows were open and all you could hear was some garage band's muffled music echoing off your neighbor's house? Well, The Magnetic Fields somehow recorded it, stamped its name on it and added inter- mittent group shouts of "Three way!" into the mix. The hollowed-out guitars plod through a suburb of distortion and feedback before being corralled in and put back into stasis by potentially sexual, vocal bleats. There's a certain amount of joy in the shoe-gaze, but before a harmo- nious climax can occur, the damn vocal "Three way!" interrupts everything. And I'm not a "Three-Way" without a climax. MATT EMERY Straight out of some anthro class on brand society.