GNARLS BARKLEY | St. Elsewhere (Downtown)
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In this context, Cee-Lo’s gregarious delivery sounds creepy, even lecherous. He’s definitely coming on too strong with the ersatz nerd-gothic of “The Boogie Monster” (“Dracula’s the name . . . “) and “Necromancer” (“I think I like her better dead”), but his deadpan cover of “Gone Daddy Gone” has an appeal that outlasts the initial novelty of a rapper doing the Violent Femmes. The lead single, “Crazy”–the first track to hit number one in the UK based on downloads alone–plumbs a mental state that’s entirely unknown to Seal, and on “Just a Thought” heavy drums periodically puncture a dreamy rhythm track as Cee-Lo sings, “Well, I’ve tried / Everything but suicide / But it’s crossed my mind.” As introspective as his lyrics seem, though, he isn’t really letting us inside. He’s flaunting his doubts the way he’s previously flaunted his exuberance; he only creates the illusion of psychological depth. DM seems to have pushed him from one shtick to another–and this time he’s gone one better, playing a two-dimensional character who’s playing at being three-dimensional. –Keith Harris
I’m sure I’ll love the new album more in three months than I do now. But if you really need a song beaten into your head, the Truckers’ next Chicago stop is just two weeks away, at the Vic on May 19. At their full-throttle three-hour shows, they go louder and longer on roundhouse-kick rockers like “Where the Devil Don’t Stay” and “Lookout Mountain” (both from The Dirty South) and even crank up the relatively genteel songs. Even if they’d just put out a record of dance remixes, I wouldn’t dream of missing them live. –Monica Kendrick
The son of a farming supply shopkeeper, Bussard was born in Frederick on July 11, 1936. In 1947 he heard his first Jimmie Rodgers record, and within a year he’d begun canvassing old neighborhoods and rural backwaters for unwanted 78s. He turned 18 six days after Elvis Presley cut “That’s All Right” at Sun Studios, but unlike the young men who saw rock ‘n’ roll as a way to escape their buttoned-down culture, Bussard hated the stuff–he’s called it a “cancer of music.” While still in his teens he bought a record lathe and started Fonotone. During the label’s 15-year run he made thousands of acetate 78s in his basement, cutting the discs as people ordered them, one or three or ten at a time. Later on he switched to cassette tapes, and if you mailed him 50 cents for each side you wanted, he’d record Fonotone material or tunes from his own collection for you.
