MP3 of the Week

I am looking forward to seeing the Red Hot Chili Peppers perform live next weekend at the Nascar Nextel All Star Challenge (formerly the Winston) between segment 1 and segment 2 at the Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina.

The Gotham Gal and I are taking the whole family down for the weekend. It will be our first time at a Nascar race and we are really looking forward to the whole experience.

In preparation, we've are getting familiar with the new RHCP record, Stadium Arcadium. Wow.  What a record this is.  Possibly the best thing they've ever done.  It's long with 28 tracks over two CDs, the Jupiter disc and the Mars disc.  I prefer Mars but they are both really good.

My favorite track on the record, on the Mars disc, is called 21st Century.  This song combines all that is great about the Chili Peppers, a funky groove, great fast paced lyrics, and a shredding John Frusciante guitar solo.

Here is live version from a set the Chili Peppers did for Zane Lowe at BBC Radio 1 in london last month. Thanks to Ear Farm for putting the links up and the photo at the top of this post.

21st Century Live

Comments

[Altay]

Wow, Fred, you really do have a killer taste in music.

Blood Sugar Sex Magic was instrumental in my musical upbringing... Flea's playing on that record is one of the reasons I picked up the bass in the first place. I think Chris Sacca (whatisleft.org) got it right when he said that's one of the few albums that's playable in its entirety from beginning to end with no skips.

And they've just been getting better and better since John Frusciante rejoined the band. I haven't checked out Stadium Arcadium yet, but with the AVC stamp of approval, it's gonna get jumped up to the top of my list. (That is, once I get through the new Josh Rouse and Springsteen, which are currently in heavy rotation thanks to you!)

But, seriously, what was up with Flea's crazy email the other week? Broke my heart...

Enjoy the concert!

[Andrew]

Not to my surprise - its a powerful record. No band puts together the level of baselines and pounding riffs like the peppers. If you ever have the chance to see them up close you'll feel what I'm talking about.

[jackson]

I bought it yeaterday - the gang at Smoke and Mirrors gave it a good listen resulting in a resounding 'wow'.

Crazy E-mail?

I still can't believe this attitude - like he's crazy? Wake up people. You don't own it unless you buy it, period. Who's heart is broken? What did you invest in the record Altay?

[Chrispy]

This record sounds... amazing.

Note to all - buy it so you can hear the uncompressed AIFF's. Otherwise you're watching a beautifully shot movie with sunglasses on.

It's a serious record. What a waste if people only heard it streaming over the 'net. I mean, what's the point?

I still don't understand why anyone whould think Flea is crazy. Oh, he's upset because someone ripped off his music and put it on the 'net...

"I think Chris Sacca (whatisleft.org) got it right when he said that's one of the few albums that's playable in its entirety from beginning to end with no skips."

The album is dead! Long live the album.

[Altay]

Sorry I didn't clarify what I said about Flea's email. Wrote a response, then figured it was a bit too long for the comments here. So, Jackson/Chrispy, if you want to check out what I have to say, I posted it at http://altayg.blogspot.com

Here's the bottom line:

"Flea was one of my heroes growing up. And now either he's sadly misinformed about the state of the industry, or he's pulling some Lars Ulrich bullshit. Either way, he's slapping the wrists of people who love his music. And that breaks my heart."