The Witzard

It's been 27 years since the world first heard Beck Hansen's Slacker Rap anthem, "Loser." Although, I would have been six at the time, I can vaguely recall hearing it just a few short years later. To be completely honest, Beck was the first White/Jewish rapper I had ever heard, aside from Beastie Boys Adam "MCA" Yauch, Michael "Mike D" Diamond, and Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz, of course. Beck would eventually recruit The Beasties' Paul's Boutique producers, The Dust Brothers, to helm his own cult classic, Odelay (1996) and a couple albums later, 1999's Midnite Vultures. Beck has always managed to effortlessly teeter the lines between Hip-Hop, Indie Rock, Folk, Alt. Country, Dance-Rock/Pop, etc. and even won Album of The Year GRAMMY for his 2014 effort, Morning Phase. Strangely, in stark contrast to Folk-leaning Morning Phase, Beck's two albums released since, Colors & Hyperspace, have been a bit more Mainstream Dance Roc...

Madison Square Garden held a benefit concert for Hurricane Sandy last night, appropriately dubbed "12-12-12." I didn't get a chance to watch the concert, but I guess it was on TV from about 7:30-1am; Rock "N" Roll greats like The Rolling Stones , Billy Joel, The Who , Roger Waters & Eddie Vedder, Eric Clapton , Chris Martin, and Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band performed colorful sets. It looks like The Who ripped through damn-near a full album, while everyone else just plated 2-3 quick tracks. Adam Sandler covered "Hallelujah," Kanye , Alicia Keys, Michael Stipe , Bon Jovi, and Paul Schaffer (Letterman) managed to roll through, too. But arguably the most buzzed about moment of the night was when Paul McCartney performed with Nirvana 's surviving members: Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic , and touring guitarist Pat Smear . "So recently, some guys asked me to go and jam with them. So I showed up, like you do, ready to jam...

I've always really been a sucker for a solid cover or remix. The whole idea of an artist giving their own unique take on someone else's "vision" [admiration] has always intrigued me. I think that the specific Willie Nelson cover presented here is hands down the most compelling/inventive cover I've heard in a pretty long time! It really doesn't even matter that it might have been commissioned by Chipotle for use in a TV commercial; Nelson's rendition of one of Coldplay 's earliest hits is still just as original and heart-felt. And isn't that really the sheer genesis of a "good cover:" When you definitely know that you recognize the lyrics, but just can't seem to place it @ first because the vocals or instrumentation are just slightly tweaked? While it actually debuted online way back in August, "Back to The Start" (Johnny Kelly) made it's nation-wide premier during The Grammy's last week... right after Coldplay...

Contrary to the bulk of Coldplay 's commercial output, the concept @ the center of "Paradise" really is a simple, easily relate-able topic: sense of longing. Mat Whitecross filmed the accompanying music video along with Coldplay , over a last minute 2-day shoot between London and South Africa . Chris Martin stars as a homesick man-elephant; A concept which the frontman himself [fully] thought up and fleshed out. Majority of the time, Mr. Paltrow Chris Martin can be seen taking part in a number of assorted hi-jinx: unicycles, un-rhythmic dancing, panhandling , transportation, melodically-echoed hooks, travel peanuts, and graffiti... All culminating with one glorious, sun-drenched reunion and of course - Coldplay 's ("Elephant Mask") encore in Johannesburg, South Africa . The band's fifth album, Mylo Xyloto is now conveniently available for your listening pleasure.