MUSIC
ALBUMSE D S WE MIS0 9 NIRVANA 0 2 IN Live At Reading (Geffen)
★★★★★
MUSIC & CLUBS
The usual knock on live albums is that they’re mere trinkets, souvenirs only of interest to those who were at the shows. This one, though, is a little different. There were a lot of people at the Reading Festival’s main stage on August 30, 1992; by some counts, 60,000. But there are even more who say they were there, such is the status that Nirvana’s muchbootlegged Sunday-night headline slot has achieved
28
JAY-Z
THEM CROOKED VULTURES
SNOOP DOGG
The Blueprint 3 (Roc Nation)
Them Crooked Vultures
(Priority)
★★★★★ Continuing our round-up of recent albums we didn’t quite have room to cover, here comes Jigga, six years removed from premature retirement (and now in his forties) but still keen to show the kids how it’s done. His home-help certainly manage it: exec-produced by Kanye West, The Blueprint 3 boasts more than its share of worthwhile beats. The problem, really, is Jay-Z, who doesn’t always have much to say and rarely sounds all that interested in saying it. WFJ
(Sony)
★★★★★
As far as supergroups go, this one’s pretty super: Queen Of The Stone Age Josh Homme out front, with a dream-team rhythm section of Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones and Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl. Perhaps inevitably, it doesn’t live up to its credits. While the GrohlJones engine room locks into solidity often enough – see the likes of No One Loves Me And Neither Do I and New Fang – there really aren’t many songs here that linger long in the memory. WFJ
Malice N Wonderland
★★★★★ If Jay-Z occasionally sounds as if he’s on cruise control, that’s nothing compared to the disinterest that exudes from Snoop Dogg, who isn’t so much coasting as asleep at the wheel. Snoop’s basically been making the same record for the better part of 20 years, and Malice N Wonderland doesn’t offer much variation on the same themes (bitches, pimping and weed). The most entertaining thing about Malice N Wonderland may be the jawdroppingly awful cover. WFJ
SOUNDS OF HOME
NEW ZEALAND
SOUTH AFRICA
NO.1 Tik Tok, Ke$ha. MAKING NEWS Sarah Blasko has won this year’s Triple J Album of the Year Award for her third album As Day Follows Night. The Sydney singersongwriter capped off a good year after taking home the gong for Best Female Artist at last month’s Aria awards.
NO.1 Whatcha Say, Jason DeRulo. MAKING NEWS Eldred Stebbing, founder of Stebbing Recording Centre and producer to just about every legendary Kiwi band going – from Ray Columbus & the Invaders to Th’ Dudes – died last week at the age of 88.
NO.1 Down, Jay Sean/ Lil Wayne. MAKING NEWS Joint winner of South African Idols 2009 Jason Hartman will support Kelly Clarkson during the SA leg of her All I Ever Wanted global tour, iafrica reports, starting on March 12 at the Coca-Cola Dome in Joburg.
tntmagazine.com
LIVE REVIEW Alice In Chains Brixton Academy Dec 7 ★★★★★ Back in 2002, after a lengthy hiatus and the death of iconic vocalist Layne Staley, it looked like Alice’s adventures in the grunge metal wonderland were over. But tonight, promoting their first studio album in 14 years, Black Gives Way To Blue, they sound like resident kings. They move effortlessly between the portentous riff epics of their past, the more intense, multi-layered slabs of their present, and a delicate mid-gig acoustic set, as new singer William DuVall’s voice – distinctive, emotive and, thankfully, not karaoke Staley – glides richly above. ALIX BUSCOVIC
Getty Images
AUSTRALIA
in the years since it took place. Live At Reading is also different because, unlike most live records, it lives up to its reputation. From the opening blast of Breed to the unlikely encores (two obscure punk covers and the fearsome Territorial Pissings), this is a rock group at the peak of its powers, not necessarily delighted with the global success that’s recently come their way but confident enough to blast their way through the discomfort. The group never again performed in the UK, but it’s unlikely that they could have bettered this set. WILL FULFORD-JONES