Jamiroquai Versus Lady Gaga

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   I've been a devoted Jamiroquai fan since the mid-1990s.   And since Lady Gaga properly hit the scene in 2008, I've been impressed by her show biz savvy, voice and piano skill.  Most of her music is enjoyable enough, but not in one of my favourite styles.  Listen to her acoustically, though, she sure does have the chops, and she could record jazz or classical if she wanted.

   Jamiroquai rarely, if ever, disappoints me sonically.   I do find Jay Kay very sexually attractive, but I'm certainly a fan for the music.  If I knew Jay in person, though, I'm sure he would be an okay enough buddy, but I wouldn't get too close to him personally.

   Let me reiterate this- Jamiroquai and Jay Kay are not one and the same.  ALL THE EFFIN' TIME the media and non-fans refer to Jay as 'Jamiroquai'.  Yes, Jay has obviously predominant creative control.   I doubt the current, post-Zender line-up would argue with Jay about songs or direction.  But, Jamiroquai is still technically a BAND, not really a solo act.   This is obvious around Emergency On Planet Earth, but the distinction has blurred since.  Sony, Mercury, and the cover art for A Funk Odyssey, Dynamite and the brand new album Rock Dust Light Star don't help with that perception.

   Anyway, RDLS was just released today.  I'm listening to the entire deluxe edition, over and over again.  I think She's A Fast Persuader and Two Completely Different Things are the strongest tracks.   Blue Skies is slowly growing on me, but it certainly shouldn't have been the first single.  I wrote more about this here: I'm obsessed, Jamiroquai edition.

   In the midst of all the recent promotion, Jay had something to say about Lady Gaga.  This comes courtesy of Gigwise.com:

In an interview with The Sun, Jay Kay claimed Lady Gaga was just being used as a marketing tool for her record label.

"Lady Gaga is a money-making freak for her label,” he told The Sun. "We are not like that. We do music, not marketing. Lady Gaga is obviously a phenomenon.

"The world loves a freak. If the record companies see that they can make money with them, they will do anything.”

   Oh, Jay.  Jason Kay... what were you thinking?  I adore your music, but you obviously haven't listened to enough of Lady Gaga.  She shines acoustically.  She kept up with Elton John on the Grammys like it was no one's business.   And, Ms. Germanotta goes out of her way to never put anyone down publicly.

    I'm such a huge Jamiroquai fan, but I'm definitely a Little Monster, too.  Jay- you don't have to criticize Lady Gaga to promote RDLS, just let the music shine on its own merit.

    I'll be seeing Jay and company as soon as they play Toronto next (hopefully no later than next spring), and I hope to see Lady Gaga's next Toronto show, too.

    Can't we all just get along?

    Stay tuned on Wednesday for part eight of 'A Brief History of the Web', and a little rant about how nasty Demand Media is.

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I'm obsessed, Jamiroquai edition

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    It's the return of my cheesy obsessed/music/Youtube series!  This is my equivalent of speeding down the road, in my car (I don't drive!) with the stereo blasting at top volume.

   'Hey, everyone!  I'm so cool!  I've got such great taste in music!  Listen to it!'

   People who know me well know that I'm one of the biggest Jamiroquai fans in Canada.  Most Canadians are totally unfamiliar with Jay Kay and company, so I don't have much competition here.

    The good thing about being a Canadian Jamiroquai fan is that when the band plays Toronto once every 3-5 years, I get to go to an intimate gig at the Koolhaus, instead of having to go to a massive over 50,000+ capacity arena like Wembley Stadium in London, England.

   Well, the last time Jamiroquai played Canada was at Toronto's Koolhaus in November 2005.  That was the last Jamiroquai concert I attended.

   Now that Jamiroquai have left Sony and signed to Mercury, the first totally new album since 2005's Dynamite will be released next month, Rock Dust Light Star.  I expect Jamiroquai will play Koolhaus again this winter or spring 2011.

   If you are a Toronto-area Jamiroquai fan, I'm sure I'll see you there.

   I've been a huge fan since Return of the Space Cowboy (a masterpiece!) so I'm really looking forward to RDLS.

  I know us long time fans often say that Jamiroquai's sound hasn't been the same since Stu Zender left, forcing Synchronized to be rerecorded with a new bassist.  But, I think Synchronized, A Funk Odyssey and Dynamite had plenty of gems.

   What disappoints me is when Jay wants to get all experimental and veer away from the acid jazz or funk genres.  World That He Wants had a great political message, but I'm not a fan for the ballads, you know!

   So, for me, first single Blue Skies was a big disappointment.  White Knuckle Ride is pretty good, though, I don't care what the other fans on funkin.com say about it.  But the videos for BS and WKR are very similar, and quite boring.

   Yes, Jay, I know you can pilot a helicopter!  I don't care!

   Most of the other tracks on RDLS are very promising, though.  Here's a Youtube video with 30 second samples from each and every track:

 And here's White Knuckle Ride, without the cheesy video:

  Here's some classic Jamiroquai, from ROTSC and Emergency on Planet Earth, respectively:

And, to finish, a couple of my favourite B-sides:

  See you tomorrow afternoon for part six of 'A Brief History of the Web'!

kimcrawley.com



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