The CD: “Duets: The Final Chapter” (Bad Boy Records)
PERFORMER: The Notorious B.I.G. (and company)
NOTE: “Parental Advisory” for explicit content

A complaint being heard about “Duets: The Final Chapter” is that the late-rapper Notorious B.I.G. wouldn’t have slapped the guest emcees featured on it with his rusty bling let alone recorded with them.

Well, B.I.G., or Christopher Wallace, was murdered in 1997 before many of the guests on this album were big (this is his second posthumous album). Who knows what would have happened? But judging by the quality of his past work, the B.I.G man might have hesitated to sign off on this misfired project anyway.

The album’s concept, if not fresh, shines with ambition. All the tracks are seeing daylight for the first time and Bad Boy Records brought in some of rap’s heavy hitters, who smack some out of the park. B.I.G.’s lazy-spoken narratives on sex, violence and desperation — recorded throughout his career — are as cool and catchy as ever.

The music, though, hits a wall. “Duets” starts out semi-well with “It Has Been Said” featuring Eminem, except that B.I.G. doesn’t even rap (duets?!). On the next song, “Spit Your Game,” the plane crashes into the mountain. B.I.G. and friends do the usual posturing to a cheap-sounding, syncopated organ with what sounds like Lil’ John in the background shouting for help from a locked bathroom. From there, the beats seesaw from Nintendo-cheap to Andrew Lloyd Webber-overblown.

When considering the thought and effort that clearly went into this album, the musical missteps seem mystifying. For instance, “Living the Life” boasts aural-cameos by Ludacris and Snoop Dogg, but takes it on the chin thanks to an obnoxious pseudo-’70s-funk jive. An overcooked operatic hook destroys B.I.G.’s duet with fellow dead guy Tupac Shakur on “Living in Pain.” (An odd duet since B.I.G. was rumored to be involved in Shakur’s 1996 murder. B.I.G. denied it.)

B.I.G.’s duet with Bob Marley on “Hold Ya Head” is a charming idea: he raps about being a criminal, waste-of-life curse to his mother, Jamaican-born Voletta Wallace, while Marley laments the pain of having a son shot dead. Sadly, the producer made little effort to hide the seams and it sounds like two separate songs playing at the same time — a.k.a. a big mess

Don’t fret, B.I.G. fans: songs such as “1970 Somethin’,” B.I.G.’s anthem about the beginning of his ill-fated life, and the hilarious and raunchy ballad “Nasty Girl” serve up some high points. If you love B.I.G and froth at any new record of his, you might enjoy “Duets.” Then again, you might sadly wonder how a hot idea came out so tepid.

Available at all local record stores.

– by Morgan Kelly

Randy Gilkey of Oak Hill plays one of his songs while his dog Ace keeps watch. Gazette photo by LAWRENCE PIERCE

More than 2,000 Americans have died in Iraq. The country is facing record-setting debt. And Junior says the bird flu could really put the hurtin’ on us.

But don’t despair. Randy Gilkey has the “Remedy.”

The classic “Remedy” is one of the songs on Gilkey’s first solo CD titled “Party Ready.” Each of the songs he selected or wrote has a bluesy, rockin’ feel. You can find shades of Leon Russell in a few tunes.

Aside from the classics he covers, Gilkey wrote all the other songs and plays all the music himself. With the help of engineer Bill Thomas, he recorded the CD in his home studio in Oak Hill, Gilkey’s Garage, and added all the other parts.

Gilkey is well-known in the area for his piano playing. Many will recall his playing with the Carpenter Ants. (Gilkey played “Johnny Be Good” at a John Kerry campaign appearance in West Virginia along with the Ants.)

He does a good job of selecting songs. “Sleepless Nights” makes a good fit with his song, “Little Affairs.” He grew up listening to his father’s Chuck Berry records, and started playing boogie-woogie piano when he was just a child. He chose Berry’s “School Days” for his CD and plays it for all it is worth.

While still an infant in a hospital incubator, Gilkey lost his eyesight. If people gain other senses when one is taken away, Gilkey’s ear for music is supersonic. He concentrates and memorizes music. He has worked as a studio musician and played on dozens of albums and opened for such acts as Junior Brown. Now 29, he is able to support himself full-time with music.

I like the whole CD. But “Remedy” has a good beat and you can dance to it. I give it a 98 on ‘Rate-A-Record.’ Gilkey sings out wonderfully: “You hold the key, you got the remedy! Once I was blind, now I see!”

For now, “Party Ready” is only available (for $10) at shows where Gilkey plays. But he hopes to have it available in stores soon. He can be reached at gilkeysgarage@yahoo.com.

— Susan Williams

The CD:: “Unpredictable”
PERFORMER: Jamie Foxx
NOTE: PARENTAL ADVISORY for strong language and sexual content

Jamie Foxx can sing. Far from the best, his crooning in the Ray Charles biopic “Ray” and his numerous song-dates since prove that he can hold at least a half-bucket of water when it comes to belting out a tune.

But Mel Torme couldn’t save “Unpredictable”’s abyssmal catalog of songs. None of them seem to know which way they’re going. Foxx lends his breathy moan to some cheap R&B/soul beats and it seems we’re heading for a funky second-rate love album a la bargain-basement Luther Vandross. Fair enough. Even bad make-out music serves a purpose.

When you actually listen to Foxx, he’s not romantic at all. Jamie the Satyr lusts after everything with protruding breasts. And guess what, ladies? The Foxx-rod kindly blesses womankind with his sexual hyper-drive whenever the chance arises.

On the song “DJ Play a Love Song,” Foxx leers at a woman from across a club and notices how much her man bores her. Never one to see a lady suffer, Foxx suggests popping into the loo for some sex. Good save, Jamie. No woman should have to spend a night at the club with the guy she came with.

The theme repeats: Jamie like sex; woman need sex; Jamie have sex with woman. No feelings ever get in the way. Why would they when sex is so much more fun? The motto of Jamie World, as told in the song “Three Letter Word” (it’s not “cat,” “hot” or “ram,” but you’re getting warmer), holds that “sex is stronger than any drug, even love.”

The Motown-esque music suggests passionate, sultry love-making, but Foxx sings about strait-up boinking (even Marvin Gaye loved his song-women). The album’s gangsta guest list suggests why. Foxx called in the hip-hop cavalry — Ludacris, Twista, the Game, Snoop Dogg and Kanye West, among others — to pitch in their two-cents of flow to attempt a million-dollar album. Granted, Foxx sang on West’s hit “Gold Digger” and Twista’s “Slow Jamz.” (Quid pro quo, Clarice.) That doesn’t mean they can carry his album.

In fact, Foxx’s spitter friends make him look silly. He tries to emulate these guys (and perhaps distance himself from the Ray Charles-sweetness that got him recognized) with rampant swearing and racy scenarios, but it’s not fooling anyone. Foxx is not a ‘G’ and he doesn’t ‘chill with his doggs’ as he purports. The over-sexed thug image so genuine in Snoop Dogg fits Foxx like a clumsy Furrie costume — looks an animal, but it’s clearly a goofy prop.

Foxx grew up involved in music, but he is not a professional musician. Sure, he played Ray Charles, but that was a movie. He excelled in the world of illusion as an actor should. Foxx can walk and talk like Charles, but he isn’t likewise consumed by sounds in his head. Charles’ self-absorption reeled us in and made us care about his feelings to the point of adopting them as our own. Foxx just seems like a pompous self-promoter miles from his home turf.

Musicians possess a pure insanity and alluring egotism that “Unpredictable” shows cannot be faked. Someone should have predicted that.

— By Morgan Kelly

The CD: “Blame The Vain” (New West Records)
Performer: Dwight Yoakam
Website: dwightyoakum.com
Listen: here

New West is Dwight Yoakam’s, well, new label, and though he has parted ways with longtime producer-guitarist Pete Anderson, do you think he’s gonna suck now? Hardly.

“Blame the Vain” is more of the same Dwight: the patented whiny-trippy voice, romance gone wrong, a landscape of loneliness and, oh yeah — rockin’ country. One thing that you get for free, with the purchase of any of Yoakam’s CDs, is the mental image of Dwight shaking his leg (complete with spray-painted on jeans) to the beat. Cool.

You can always count on Dwight having an open slot on “Imus in the Morning.” Yoakam’s appearances are one of the best parts about that show.

The title track opens the CD, with Yoakam firing off verbally: So go ahead and blame me for anything you want/It all ends up the same/When everything you’ve been claiming is wrong.

One of the best things about Yoakam’s songs are that you can feel alone with him. So, you’re not really alone — right? “Lucky That Way” is a somber song with gospel-type singing that fits right into this theme. Listening to this type of country fried rock, you can understand where a lot of rock & roll came from — country.

I did see the video for “Intentional Heartache”, the third song, on CMT. (Why, you may ask, was I watching CMT? At least they play music!) The song spells out what can happen to two-timin’ male pigs and their signed Dale Jr. posters. You dogs — you’re filth to me!

Check out the swinging, up-tempo “Three Good Reasons” — I almost “fell out” when I heard what the number one reason was: I’ll give you three good reasons for leavin’/Number one is that I’ve forgotten number two/Number three is in a place that’s been kept hidden for so long I can’t remember, but it’s true. MMMMMWAAH!

Love it. DY sings in his best Elvis voice on this one.

“She’ll Remember” sounds like the Rentals song “These Days” at first, what with the sliding synth and all — that’s right: moog-sounding synthesizers on a country song. This goes on underneath an unknown sample of a guy lamenting lost love, then — twangy guitars and Dwight singing! It wasn’t some kind of horrible DJ project after all. Yoakam sings about self-denial and the likelihood of a particular female (Bridget Fonda?) returning to him: Once all that’s left is what’s been used/And any chance to hide from the truth keeps getting slimmer/then she’ll remember. The song has an almost classic rock feel to it, and that’s good.

P.S. Oh yeah, Massey Energy brought the Ohio-born & Kentucky-bred Yoakam to play at their picnic a few years back, and people not slaving for their little fiefdom weren’t invited. Massey — you’ve made my eternal sh!tlist!

— Nick Harrah

THE CD: “Seeing Things: Heidi Muller & Bob Webb”
PERFORMER: Heidi Muller and Bob Webb
WEBSITE: www.heidimuller.com

This new recording features Seattle songwriter Heidi Muller and Bob Webb, a longtime Charleston musician. The pair also serve as producers, with Webb as engineer. The result is a nice blend of folksong and fine instrumentals.

The title tune is a wistful look at people and places that are no more, with a warning about the future. “Those houses that you see on open land/Were put up where the cornfields used to stand/Funny, I expect to see/Dairy farms and apple trees/Who will feed us in the end?/Does anybody look around the bend?”

Loal legends come to life in “From an Earlier Time,” a song that grew out of Muller’s work at the Patchwork Dream project at the Big Ugly Community Center in Lincoln County. “And can you quite picture a man all alone/Who lived in a cave in the shadow of stone/Steven Hart was a loner, he never sought fame/But the creeks in these mountains still carry his name”

Or: “Miss Emeritt Adkins was living in Leet/The Guyan and Coal River train only feet from her porch/When the brakeman attempted to flirt/So she raised up her shotgun/And riddled his shirt.”

The instrumental medley, “Elk River Blues/West Virginia Hills” joins the classic ode to West Virginia with a fiddle tune from the late Ernie Carpenter of Braxton County. Another combination “Bach’s Old Coat,” mixes J.S. Bach with a cello version of a traditional fiddle tune found in West Virginia.

“My Barista” is an ode to the local coffee bar and the Queen of Caffeine. All hail!
“Seeing Things” has well-crafted lyrics, rich production and varied instrumentation, with harmony singing, dulcimer, guitar, fiddle, mandolin, slide guitar, piano, cello, harmonica and percussion, ably provided by top players in Charleston’s music scene. Among them: Julie Adams, Ryan Kennedy, Paul Elliot, Janis Carper, John Kessler, Guy George, Deron Sadaro, Mellissa Javors, Ammed Solomon, Randy Gilkey and Ron Sowell.

“Seeing Things” is a fine contemporary folk recording, and would be right at home on “The Folk Sampler” or similar programs. Here’s hoping Muller and Webb are finding a wider audience.

– By Paul Gartner

WHERE: Available on the Web at CDBaby.com, Taylor Books, Frog Creek Books at Capitol Market and Showcase West Virginia in downtown Charleston, W.Va.

THE CD: “Ants In Your Pants”
PERFORMER: The Carpenter Ants

By Nick Scala

The question was posed to me while talking to a friend about the Carpenter Ants: ‘What kind of music do they play?’

The first thing that came to mind was ‘gospel. Then, understanding that gospel music isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, I quickly blurted out “R&B … soul … country … rock ‘n’ roll … umm … Ya’ know… Music.”

It’s made all the more interesting by the way the Ants are able to seamlessly juxtapose a soulful gospel number alongside a raunchy secular hip-shaker. The inability to categorize the Carpenter Ants is what makes them fun to listen to. You don’t know where the next song might take you. But it’s a pretty safe bet you’re going to enjoy the ride.

That’s the spirit of “Ants in Your Pants,” the Charleston-based band’s third CD. The blend of styles is outstanding, and it’s backed by a few improvements over its predecessors: original songs (absent from previous efforts), better production values and a bigger dose of the fine guest musicians the Ants seem to attract.

If you’re a regular Wednesday- or Sunday-night patron of the Empty Glass, chances are you’ve heard most of the songs on “Ants in Your Pants.” The album, though, gives you bonuses you might not always get when you visit the band live, such as a second guitar to accompany Michael Lipton, or keyboards, or a sexy-voiced female vocalist.

Core ants, who include Lipton, Jupie Little (drums), Ted Harrison (bass) and Charlie Tee (vocals), are joined throughout the album by guitarist Steve Ferguson, who made his bones with NRBQ, another multi-genre, uncategorizable band that hit its stride in the 1970s, as well as Jon Carrol, keyboard player for Mary Chapin-Carpenter.

We also get an all-too-brief contribution from Robert Shafer, whose credentials merely include being twice selected as the national flatpicking champion and who added so much to the band’s first album, “Long Live the Queen.”
Credits are also given to drummer Ammed Solomon (Mountain Stage Band, Voodoo Katz), vocalist Larry Groce (of Mountain Stage fame), producer Don Dixon, who chips in with guitars and vocals, and vocalist Laura Nadeau. The album is a tribute to the aforementioned diversity of sounds.

Meet the Ants in song

The CD opens with “Picnic With the Lord” (What I still can’t figure is why this song wasn’t included on the Ants’ second album, the all-gospel disc titled “Picnic With the Lord.”) The difference in this one is that it’s written by Lipton. It’s a sassifying gospel rocker — what better way to get things started?

Next up is “Charlie Tee from NYC,” the first of three Lipton-penned musical bios about the band’s core members. (My question to the Ants: Isn’t it about time one of you guys wrote one about Lipton?) The song is about — and sung by — Charlie Tee, the lead singer whose huge stage presence is matched by his passion. I’ve seen Charlie a few-dozen times now and have never seen him without a smile on his face. What I can’t imagine is that smiling face under the funky ‘fro of many years ago that Charlie sings about. That I wanna’ see, because, these days, his head is smooth (and so, we’re told, are his moves).

“On My Way Home” returns us to the gospel soul train and keeps hands clappin’ and feets tappin’, with Charlie and the mellow chorus leading the congregation down the road to rapture. We return to the biographical sketches with “Jumpin’ Jupie Jive,” concerning drummer James “Jupiter” Little and his zest for life, including chicken, Hennessey and … other stuff.

I suppose the country-funk of “Sausage Song” is as close as we’ll get to self-revelation from Lipton (well, maybe “Mama was a Big Un” may qualify). He turns the tables on the age-old question asked by us single menfolk, you know the one: ‘Why buy the cow when the milk’s for free?’ Well, this one’s from the ladies’ perspective — Why buy the hog when the sausage is free? Lipton shares the lead vocal with Nadeau, lead vocalist, guitarist and lyricist for Stella, a popular band from Athens, Ohio.

The third and final installment in the Meet the Ants series is “Ted’s on the Move,” which intimately introduces us to rock-steady bass player Harrison. The album then returns to its gospel roots, slows things down and hands the lead vocal to Jupie on “Cryin’ in the Street.” (Jupe also gets credit for additional lyrics.)

The Ants March On

I can’t say for sure, but I’m guessing that, during the break, that’s Lipton on rhythm and Ferguson doing the solo work. Fergie spent lots of time this summer and fall with the Ants, and I always looked forward to hearing him do the decidedly secular “Downtown” song. Why isn’t that on the album, dagnabbit?

The countrifried hook returns on “Mama was a Big Un,” on which Lipton speaks of genetic progression and pays a quick, smile-inducing tribute to the 1960s one-hit-wonder classic “Countin’ Flowers on the Wall.” He gives us another peek at where he’s been, and lets us know that bigger is, indeed, better. (I still think Charlie, Jupe and Ted owe him one.)

“How I Got Over” is another spirit-lifting hand-clapper in the gospel mold, leading into “Get Outta Here,” on which Charlie sings about a parent who’s not exactly enthralled by his daughter’s choice of beaus. Good stuff, specifically the guitar crescendos throughout.

Shafer’s dynamite contribution comes in on “Insect Ball,” sung by Little. The penultimate offering is the fast-paced gospel-rocker “I John Saw,” punctuated by Ferguson’s unmistakable voice on a solo refrain.

The album ends with “Ant March” (not to be confused with Dave Matthews’ “Ants Marching,” which would be appropriate for these Ants to cover if they could come up with a fiddler). This one is basically filler at the back end, where Ferguson, Lipton, Harrison and Little were just messing around between numbers. I’m told that Dixon, emerging from the bathroom, kept the tape rolling for a couple-three minutes because he loved what he heard out of the jam.

Give “Ants in Your Pants” a listen, and I’m guessing you’ll love it, too.

WHERE:To order a copy, call 304/342-4412, e-mail mlipton@gmail.com or visit CDBaby.com.

RELATED: “The Spirit Behind the Ants New CD,” by Bill Lynch