Mary J. Blige, "No More Drama"

No backstory to tell about this one - it's just that "No More Drama" at the 2002 Grammys is the most electrifying live performance I have ever seen in my life. I remember watching it live on TV and physically shaking by the end. Damn, she earned that standing ovation. When she glances at the camera and growls "And I choooose to wi-i-iiiiin" at the 1:50 mark, you can sense something coming over her, as if she's having an out-of-body experience and performing a self-exorcism in the process. She yells more than sings, but it works, and by the end, you're gasping for air along with her.

Would that more R&B starlets take a cue from Blige, now that I'm thinking about it. Not just in the singing, but in the taking control of one's life. For all too many, fame spirals people out of their minds. Blige, in achieving the fame she'd (as she reminded us at the coda) worked so hard for, found hers.

Joey Eppard, "Static"

This week, while I've been trying to convince an older friend of the merits of Jason Mraz, a younger friend is trying to convince me of the merits of Joey Eppard. Funny how we continue the tastemaking chain.

Eppard, for those unfamiliar (which would have included me a mere few weeks ago), is a guitar wizard and singer who fronts a hard alt-emo-rock band called Three. Three's music is not my cup of tea - I'm not sure I've published anything in eight months of writing this blog that one would really call "hard rock," but refresh my memory if I'm wrong - but Eppard is an undeniable talent. And on "Static," a track from his 2002 solo album Been to the Future, he sounds to these ears more than a touch like good ol' Mr. A-Z. Except that Mraz is probably constitutionally incapable of writing a song about hooking up with someone on the regular and refusing to escalate her above "stranger" status.

At least, that's how I hear the song. And so I've been thinking "Static" might make for a good theme song for the carelessly sexual character Sven in the online comic Questionable Content.