Yup, the naked trucker is back!

Outside Largo, they’re lined up, as usual, waiting to see singer-songwriter Jon Brion (NT). His weekly musical free-for-alls are now in the fifth year of a room-filling run on Friday nights. Despite the obvious—that the place hasn’t yet opened—several people ignore the queue and try the door.

Rather than mocking newcomers, as some in-crowds might do, the regulars explain the drill: Dinner reservations? Stand to the left of the black door. Seeking a spot in the limited standing room in the 120-capacity space? Join the longer line to the right.

http://www.nakedtrucker.com/

Sony Music Entertainment is making sweeping layoffs, in the first reorganizational move by its new chairman and chief executive officer, Andrew Lack.

Lack, who succeeded Tommy Mottola as chairman and chief executive about three months ago, plans to eliminate 1,000 jobs in the United States and abroad as part of a cost-reduction plan that would try to cut expenses of more than $100 million a year, people close to the company said Thursday.

The cuts include about 300 positions in the United States. The layoffs will affect people who work in distribution, manufacturing, administrative support, corporate offices and both record labels, Columbia Records and Epic Records.The layoffs come as Lack seeks to restructure, streamline and leave an imprint on a company that was run for 14 years by Mottola, an industry giant. Mottola left under a pall after the music division experienced huge financial losses as its market share continued to shrink. Lack, the former president and chief operating officer of NBC, was hired by Howard Stringer, chief of Sony of America, in the hopes that he could help improve the division’s finances.

“We are also combining some functions, most notably in sales and distribution, in order to minimize duplication of efforts and more efficiently serve the needs of our artists, employees and customers,'’ Lack said in an undated memo to employees.

In about two weeks, Lack is expected to announce sweeping management changes that will dismantle the structure of Mottola’s longtime administration but keep many of its players.

Released March 14th 2003

Artist: David Duriez
Mixes: DJ Buck
Release: West Way
Catalog: SLR008
Label: STRAYLIGHT

Track Listing:
A1 West Way - Original
B1 West Way - DJ Buck Remix

David Duriez has been producing solid house music for 8 years strong. With his new release on Straylight he brings his own unique sound to the dancefloor. Not being content with the “French sound”, David has ventured into new territory with his latest vision, “West Way”. This deep track features smooth chords, nice building and that classic analog sound; it’s perfect for the dancefloor.

To say the least, DJ Buck has been very busy these days. After taking time out from his hectic DJ schedule, Buck blesses us with an amazing remix of “West Way”. DJ Buck’s Dirty Dub is loaded with thick basslines and a pumping rhythm, wait for the breakdown!!

REVIEWS

French producer David Duriez has been prolific of late, but it hasn’t resulted in him putting out any sub-standard tracks. Here he takes a different approach to his recent release on Freaked; a deep, bass-led groove snakes along before Duriez introduces a trippy 303 riff. DJ Buck’s remix sees the US producer opt for a more stripped down sound, while retaining the acid signatures and the original track’s mid-paced tempo. Expertly constructed club music. 4/5
(Richard Brophy, DJ Magazine)

What a great month for vinyl! Here David serves up a wonderful dish of deepness just the way we like it. A huge, round bass propels this cut, moody keys hang in for the ride, sleigh bells chink in a wintry manner, and abstract vocal samples offset the rhythms. He chucks in a squashy synth too for a veritable feast of electronic textures. Smooth! DJ Buck remixes; the beats are a little stiff but the ridiculously fat bass is a treat. 7.5/8
(Wiseblood, M8)

…

Don’t sleep on this one!

Koala Bear Studios, a brand new Indie label in Long Beach, California has signed Danny Hamilton, nominated male singer-songwriter of the year at the 2002 Los Angeles Music Awards! You can listen to MP3’s of Danny’s music at Koala Bear Studios, and buy an earlier CD of Danny’s directly from their online store. Danny and his Band will be going into the studio to do their first high-end studio-recorded, mixed and mastered CD sometime in the next couple of weeks and we can’t wait to hear the results! In the meantime, you can go to www.kbearstudios.com to check out his stuff! You won’t be disappointed!

It’s dark there in the shadows, but lil’ Kim always made the most of her spot in the long silhouette cast by her mentor and former lover, the late Notorious B.I.G. As a foil to Biggie, the pint-size firestarter found lyrical niches that the big man just couldn’t compete with – unexpurgated sexuality and unchecked materialism – and milked them thoroughly. Her first two albums – 1996’s Hard Core and 2000’s The Notorious KIM – had enough oral sex to shame the Vivid girls and enough wanton bling to put the Robb Report out of business.But if Kim helped set the template for the ghetto-fabulous glam queen, her topical redundancy and lumpy lyricism wore out the formula almost immediately. As a result, no one can copy Kim – not even herself – because no one does Kim like Kim did Kim. La Bella Mafia, her long-delayed third album, sports her typical cavalcade of shocking sex positions ("I make a Sprite can disappear in my mouth") and nouveau riche knickknacks: Amex Centurion Cards, edible Gucci thongs. “Even got a manicurist in the booth while I rhyme,” she jokes on “Shake Ya Bum Bum.” But to her credit, Kim sounds like she’s bored with such rote boasts. Only truly electric production can keep these sluggish raps fresh, and on some songs it does: “Magic Stick,” on which Sha Money injects inebriated blues samples, and “The Jump Off,” on which Timbaland punches up a Southern marching-band brass section with synth stabs left over from “Get Ur Freak On.”

The album gets a lyrical charge when Kim takes swipes at her old nemesis Foxy Brown and revisits the grimy ride-or-die side not seen since her Junior M.A.F.I.A. days. “This Is a Warning” revises R. Kelly’s sublime slow jam “A Woman’s Threat” and turns it into a murder ballad, 50 Cent-style. (50 himself pops up for a saucy cameo on “Magic Stick.") And on “Tha Beehive,” she taunts, “You bitches ain’t been through shit, y’all just minors/What you know about stuffing half a brick in your vagina?” When she really gets her hands dirty, Kim sounds more forceful and engaged than she’s been in years. While decadence has grown tired, the uncut raw seems fresh again. On “Heavenly Father,” she laments, “I’d sacrifice everything I got right now to have my man Biggie here with me.” With the best of these down-low and dirty songs, she’s trying to do just that.

JON CARAMANICA

Mike Skinner, aka The Streets, came back to Los Angeles last night (3/11), riding a crest of rave reviews for his debut album, Original Pirate Material from 2002. Unfortunately, the tide turned at this show when a disinterested industry crowd turned their backs on Skinner and his live band for the most part. Much of the night Skinner and company were reduced to parlor tricks like spraying beer on the crowd and relying on an air horn. Whether they were taking the piss or not, the music didn’t hold up, as even standout tracks like “Weak Become Heroes” and “Has It Come To This?” sounded dead in the water. Maybe it was the awful sound at the newly tweaked El Rey Theatre? Or maybe the jaded crowd couldn’t relate to the hip hop styling of the 23-year-old Birmingham, England native. Whatever it was, even fans of the album were hard pressed to defend what was a decidedly lackluster effort … sorry to report. At least there’s still the album.

First record in five years in progress

“We always work a little slower than others,” says Beastie Boy Adam Yauch. Five Years after Hello Nasty, the group is busy recording in a New York studio it built last year.

But have patience: The new CD is unlikely to be finished before 2004. According to the band, “it’s about fifteen percent done.” One completed track, however, was posted on the Beasties’ Web site this week: the anti-war tirade “In a World Gone Mad.” “We wanted to offer out help in the war-protest arena,” says Yauch. Over a herky-jerky beat, the song attacks President Bush, but it also flashes trademark Beasties humor, as when Mike Diamond addresses the president: “You and Saddam should kick it like back in the day/With the cocaine and the Courvoisier.""It’s a bit of a goof,” says Yauch. “The implication is, rather than involving everyone in the world in their problems, the two of them could go work it out somewhere.”

During a quick recording break, the Beasties have two live appearances scheduled: the Tibetan Freedom Concert in Japan, on April 19th, and the Coachella Festival on April 26th. “I don’t quite know how bands put out a record every year,” says Yauch. “It takes a year to make the record, a year to tour and then a year of vacation. We just happen to stretch that vacation part to two or three years.”

After all those Grammy wins followed by a record spike on last week’s charts, you’d think no one could keep up with the (Norah) Jones. Think again.

Now in his fifth week on the charts, rapper 50 Cent reclaimed the top spot with his smash rookie album, Get Rich or Die Tryin’, knocking off Jones’ mega-debut, Come Away with Me.

The Queens emcee sold another 358,000 copies, according to SoundScan figures, to win top honors for the week ended Sunday. Jones’ disc, a 54-week chart mainstay, sold 336,000 copies in the runner-up slot. Aside from 50 Cent’s return to the top, hip-hop dominated the debuts, scoring two new entries in the Top 10. Brooklyn rapper Fabolous opened at number three as his sophomore release, Street Dreams, moved 184,000 copies. The album features a strong female supporting cast, with appearances by Missy Elliott, Mary J. Blige and Ashanti.

Lil’ Kim bowed at number five with her third album, La Bella Mafia, selling 166,000 copies. Her disc also features an appearance by Missy Elliott, as well as cameos by Method Man and Styles P. A onetime Junior M.A.F.I.A. associate, Kim is perhaps best known for being one of the Moulin Rouge soundtrack’s Ladies Marmalade and getting her breast fluffed by Diana Ross at the 1999 MTV Music Awards.

The only non-rap debut belonged to the rock outfit Evanescence, whose Fallen opened at number seven, selling 141,000 copies. Fronted by the brooding Amy Lee, this Little Rock, Arkansas, group first made noise as a standout on the Daredevil soundtrack.

The remaining Top 10 albums were R. Kelly’s Chocolate Factory at four, the Dixie Chicks’ Home at six, Kid Rock’s Cocky at eight, the Chicago soundtrack at nine, and the Cradle 2 the Grave soundtrack at 10.

Avril Lavigne’s Let Go, which came up empty-handed at the Grammys, dropped from the Top 10 for the first time in more than six months. The album, down 27,000 for a 69,000-copy week, now sits at number 11.

Outside the Top 10, the most ear-splitting new offering came from the double-disc Kidz Bop 3 at number 17. The successful series–which features kids covering recent hits by artists like Avril Lavigne, Sheryl Crow, and Mary J. Blige–benefits from massive direct-response television ads.

Following a Grammy win, Christian rockers Third Day scored their highest chart debut ever with Offerings II: All I Have to Give. The disc sold 53,000 copies to open at 18 and also handily topped Billboard’s Christian music charts. The original Offerings: A Worship Album, released in 2000, will soon surpass platinum sales status, a rarity in Christian circles.

Other notable newbies on the charts included: Warped Tour faves the Ataris at 24 with their major label debut, So Long Astoria; Wayne Wonder’s No Holding Back charted at 29; Donnie McClurkin’s self-titled opened at 31; and Choppa’s Straight from the N.O. closed its first week at 54.

Lastly, Hootie & the Blowfish’s new eponymous disc sold 25,000 copies to open at 46. The Blowfish have simply blown since rocketing to fame with the 1994 smash Cracked Rear View. Their last effort, 1998’s Musical Chairs, tanked, and this time around, legendary producer Don Was held their hand in the studio in hopes of a solid comeback.

Here’s a rundown of the Top 10 albums for the week ended Sunday, according to SoundScan:

1. Get Rich or Die Tryin’, 50 Cent
2. Come Away with Me, Norah Jones
3. Street Dreams, Fabolous
4. Chocolate Factory, R. Kelly
5. La Bella Mafia, Lil’ Kim
6. Home, Dixie Chicks
7. Fallen, Evanescence
8. Cocky, Kid Rock
9. Chicago soundtrack, various
10. Cradle 2 the Grave soundtrack, various

01. Allgood Funk Alliance and Friends - Funk Weapons 2 12″ (AFA, US)
02. Joakim - Are You Vegetarian? 12″ (Versatile, France)
03. Zero dB - Reconstruction LP (Ubiquity, US)
04. F.I.T.S. vs. The Idjuts - Deborah Dub 12″ (Session, UK)
05. Jugoe - Night Fumblings/Kingpin 12″ (Bastard Jazz, US)
06. Freaks - The Man Who Lived Underground LP (Music For Freaks, UK)
07. Alexi Delano - Round and Round (Remixes) 12″ (Statra, US)
08. Starfuckas - Check My Rhythm 12″ (Butter, UK)
09. L.C. Anderson vs. Psycho Radio - Right Stuff 12″ (Oxyd, Italy)
10. Greg Long - Skindiving 12″ (Imperial Dub, US)11. The Funky Lowlives - Irreplaceable 12″ (Stereo Deluxe, Germany)
12. Luomo - Waltz For Your Eyes 12″ (Scheinselbstandig, Germany)
13. Formidable Force - MInd Games 12″ (20/20 Vision, UK)
14. JT Donaldson - Rhythm & Dance Exploration EP 12″ (Lowdown, US)
15. Jay Tripwire - Robocop Has A Fever 12″ (Worship, US)
16. Lovesky - Love Supreme (remixes) 12″ (Warmth, US)
17. Swag - No Such Thing LP Sampler 12″ (Version, UK)
18. Crazy Penis - You Are We 12″ (Paper, UK)
19. Midnight Movers - Dream Lover 12″ (Facade, US)
20. Afrobutt presents The Missing Link 12″ (Hairy Claw, UK)