“Write Me Back” closely follows Kelly’s more genteel style of R&B.

“Love Letter” served as a comeback of sorts for Kelly. Although Kelly has remained a mainstay in the R&B/hip-hop landscape with guest features and music, including his version of a musical soap opera,  “Trapped in the Closet,” now at 22 episodes, many believe his stock plummeted after years of controversy stemming from an underage sex scandal that led to court (he was acquitted of all charges). The singer was blacklisted by a host of urban radio stations during the trial. A bitter feud with Jay-Z has also provided fodder for the media.

Kelly has been a busy man outside of prepping his album. He is readying additional “Trapped in the Closet” chapters to air on IFC later this year; his memoir, “Soulacoaster: The Diary of Me,” is slated for a June release; and he wrote and produced music for Whitney Houston’s final film, “Sparkle.” He will also embark on his “Love Letter” fan cruise in October.

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-- Gerrick D. Kennedy
Twitter.com/GerrickKennedy

Photo: R. Kelly. Credit: Courtesy of RCA Records.

This week, the hip-hop star-entrepreneur and longtime supporter of Barack Obama echoed the president's sentiments on the topic of gay marriage. Denouncing gay rights "is no different than discriminating against blacks," Jay-Z told CNN. "It's discrimination, plain and simple."

Jay-Z is one of the most powerful figures in a genre that over the last decade has been shedding its perceived anti-gay tendencies, a dialogue that went mainstream after the union of Eminem and Elton John at the 2001 Grammy awards. To be fair, Jay-Z himself used an anti-gay slur more than once in his early works, but he left no room for misinterpretation this week when he stated that the refusal to allow gay couples to wed is "holding the country back."

Jay-Z could prove to be a powerful ally. For one, his "Empire State of Mind" has positioned him as a modern-day Frank Sinatra, and his daughter with Beyoncé, Blue Ivy, is treated like American royalty. But more important, American voters remain divided on the issue, and ballot box polling has shown that gay marriage is a particularly contentious issue among African Americans. The Times recently reported that in "2008 more than 9 in 10 black voters in California backed Obama, then overwhelmingly voted for Proposition 8, the successful ballot measure to overturn the state Supreme Court's decision allowing same-sex marriage."

Jay-Z has been making the media rounds to discuss the two-day Made in America festival he'll be hosting Labor Day weekend in Philadelphia. No doubt by then, more artists will have weighed in with their thoughts on the upcoming election, but one topic won't be up for debate at the event.

"What people do in their own homes is their business and you can choose to love whoever you love," Jay-Z told CNN. "That's their business."

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-- Todd Martens

Image: Jay-Z at the press conference for his Made in America festival. Credit: Associated Press.

He also recorded a live rendition of one of the album’s songs, a version of Pearl Jam’s “Just Breathe,” in the studio with sons Lukas and Micah Nelson, along with a couple of his longtime Family Band members,  including his sister, keyboardist Bobbie, and harmonica player Mickey Raphael. The video can be seen here.

“Just Breathe” is one of a couple of left-field song choices -- another is Coldplay’s “The Scientist” -- on a set that also features more big-name duet partners for Nelson, this time including Merle Haggard, Kris Kristofferson, Billy Joe Shaver, Sheryl Crow, Jamey Johnson and (drum roll, please) Snoop Dogg. Nelson and Snoop teamed up for the lighthearted smokefest celebration “Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die.”

Should Nelson ever decide to stage the odd-couple duet live, it’s a safe bet that Snoop won't send a hologram to inhale in his place.

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Photo: Willie Nelson and band at Sirius XM live performance session. Credit: Rahav Segev.

In the time since their debut, music fans under age 25 have essentially stopped caring about big-budget rock music, a truth the D addresses pretty forthrightly on “Rock Is Dead.” Much like Black’s sagging teacher in “School of Rock,” this album lives its joke about redemption and returns to past glory. “To Be the Best” tweaks inspirational ’80s-movie-montages with era-perfect roto-toms, and “The Ballad of Hollywood Jack and the Rage Kage” flays classic tales of band infighting and reunions.

Tenacious D works because its music is as good as the stuff it parodies, and it’s easy to imagine the ode-to-declining-hookup-standards “Low Hangin’ Fruit” or blowin’-stuff-up anthem “Deth Starr” actually making traction on KROQ-FM (106.7). When sincere rock music is DOA on the charts, is it too late to wonder whether the D is the genre’s last true defender?

“Rize of the Fenix”
Tenacious D
Columbia
Two and a half stars

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-- August Brown

Photo: Tenacious D is lead vocalist and guitarist Jack Black, left, and lead guitarist and vocalist Kyle Gass. Credit: Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times.

It’s no gag, though. The new album, “… ya know?” and scheduled for May 22 release,  consists of tracks left incomplete when Ramone, born Jeffry Hyman, died in 2001 of lymphoma. Ramone’s brother, Mickey Leigh, used demos and other unreleased recordings his brother made and completed the tracks with assistance from various friends and admirers including Joan Jett, E Street Band guitarist Steve Van Zandt (who has written the liner notes), Cheap Trick’s Bun E. Carlos, Patti Smith Group guitarist Lenny Kaye and Smithereens drummer Dennis Diken.

"Over the past eight years, I've been getting a barrage of emails and Facebook messages from Joey's fans, wanting to know when this album would be coming out,” Leigh said in a statement issued Tuesday. “So having it finally become a reality gives me a feeling of triumph -- not for me, but for my brother, and for his fans. And there's not the slightest doubt in my mind that people are gonna be blown away by it."

At Saturday’s 12th Joey Ramone birthday celebration in New York, Leigh will be joined in performing the album in its entirety by many of those who played on "... ya know?" including Jean Beauvoir, Richie Stotts, Ed Stasium, Amy Hartman, Al Maddy and JP “Thunderbolt” Patterson. Tommy Ramone, the sole surviving original member of the group, is slated to be among those making guest appearances along with David Peel, Joey Lanz and others. Additional performers for the show will include the Threads, the Brats, the Indecent, Ivan Julian and the Bullys. The event will be held at the Studio at Webster Hall.

Tickets are $40 and proceeds go to the Joey Ramone Foundation for Lymphoma Research.

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Photo of Dee Dee, Tommy, Joey and Johnny Ramone courtesy of Roberta Bayley.

Created along with producer/songwriter/TV composer Ben Vaughn, "Marvelous Clouds" features McKuen gems such as "Mr. Kelly," about carefree days spent rolling in the grass and frolicking on the beach; and "Doesn't Anybody Know My Name," which begins with the sound of trains on tracks and is about a soldier returning from the war and finding his old world vanished (and his dog gone lame). "Jean" is a sticky, saccharine ode to a woman, featuring red roses, drifting clouds, green leaves and "hills ablaze with a warm yellow haze." 

As a way to interact with his fans and maybe share some emotional moments, Freeman made public his cellphone number and invited listeners to text him their reactions to "Marvelous Clouds." That number -- (609) 542-0751 -- is still active, and has received more than 2,000 messages from fans so far.

Freeman recently shared some of the most inspiring text messages. Below are a few highlights (typos and misspellings intact).

"Hi Aaron. The new album rules! So chilled out. I plan to play it the next time I make love to my girl. U should be proud of the album."

"I always thought you were adoreable... cute.... quirky.... Marvelous Clouds says Aaron Freeman is SEXY!"

"I've had 'Jean' on repeat all day at work, so much so that the coworkers are starting to give me strange looks.

"I want to use Jean as the first dance in my wedding next month. My fiancee is dead set on that Aerosmith song from Armageddon. What should I do?"

"Hey Aaron. I just finished listening to Marvelous Clouds, and I am blown away.. I didn't want it to end.. "Clouds are not the cheeks of angels you know".. I think Rod McKuen would be proud! Thank you so much:)"

"Hey, if my dad dies, would you be willing to date my mom? She knows how to cook, and she loves the Ween. I'm going to buy her Marvelous Clouds for mother's day. You should consider it."

"Last night in Houston TX, I was finally able to witness Roger Waters perform The Wall and I didnt think life could get any better...then tonight..I got to listen to your Marvelous Clouds..and I was proven wrong…thank you Aaron."

"U stayed true and i love it. Kinda takes me back in time when songs ere poetry. Great stuff Aaron."

"Marvelous Clouds = brilliant! I was woefully unaware of McKuen 'til now, thanks for the musical introduction. Your voice fits perfectly with it."

"Marvelous Clouds is really cheering me up. I've been having a rough few months and it puts a glint back in my eye."

"Aaron, I'm on my 4th listen of your solo album. The vibe to it hits so pleasantly hard. Perfect way to celebrate my 12 month sobriety!"

"Did you know you have the same birthday as Billy Corgan and Kurt Russell? That's intense. Peace."

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Album review: Best Coast's 'The Only Place'

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-- Randall Roberts
Twitter: @liledit

Photo: Aaron "Gene Ween" Freeman. Credit: Shore Fire Media

Unlike “Crazy for You,” which was buried under a protective layer of distortion, on “The Only Place” a confident Cosentino stands at the front of the stage, seemingly unconcerned with judgment or ambivalence while she sings. With a voice that strives to hit Neko Case and Martha Reeves territory but which more often than not is in the Belinda Carlysle and Suzanna Hoffs range, Cosentino’s strength as a vocalist doesn't come from pitch-perfect vocal tone, but rather, it lies in how she and Bruno craft solid, three and four minute pop songs that suggest everyone from Buddy Holly to the Crystals to the Bangles without sounding like any of them. Best, there’s a uniquely Californian feel to the album, a gloss that’s not so much of the commercial variety as of the feel-good kind.

Part of that vibe arrives courtesy of producer Jon Brion, whose work in Los Angeles over the past two decades has added a new branch to the archetypical “west coast sound” family tree. Brion, best known for his work with Fiona Apple, Aimee Mann, Kanye West, Brad Mehldau, and dozens of others – as well as the music for Paul Thomas Anderson’s epic ode to the San Fernando Valley, “Magnolia” -- sequestered the band in Capitol Studios on Vine over the fall and early winter to make “The Only Place,” and you can hear his influence in the album’s cohesion. There, in the same room where the Beach Boys, Frank Sinatra, and Green Day made some of their classics, Cosentino, Bruno and Brion set to work making magnetic – and focused -- new songs.

On, for example, “Do You Still Love Me Like You Used To,” that feeling is the fear of loving someone too much, of alienating the object of one’s affection through obsession. On “Let’s Go Home,” Cosentino examines the dualistic desire for both the adventure of travel and the comfort of home – and comes down on the side of the latter.

On “The Only Place,” that emotion is the joy of living in Southern California. “Why would you live anywhere else?” she wonders in a song tailor-made for a Chamber of Commerce-funded “I love L.A.” campaign, then lists some of the many charms of the region.

“We’ve got the ocean, got the babes/Got the sun, we’ve got the waves,” she sings before asking her rhetorical question of the title. Part of the answer lies in the weather, of course. But another answer is in the song itself. We also live here for the feeling we get when a good pop song – or, in the case of “The Only Place,” an entire album -- hits the target and conjures the spirit of Southern California.

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–- Randall Roberts
Twitter: @liledit

Like less charismatic hip-hop artists, politicians routinely repurpose other people's songs. And like a great many rappers over the last several decades, they've often done it without permission. As we move into the summer-long showdown between Mitt Romney and Barack Obama, here are five songs recently heard reverberating in the corridors of power.

K'naan, "Wavin' Flag"

Romney used this Somali Canadian rapper's 2009 hit after a Florida-primary win, leading K'naan to tweet, "Yo @mittromney I am K'naan Warsame and I do not endorse this message."

Al Green, "Let's Stay Together"

In January President Obama sang a few lines of the 1972 soul classic during a fundraiser at New York's Apollo Theater. It's also included on an official (and no doubt carefully curated) campaign playlist available on Spotify.

Survivor, "Eye of the Tiger"

The early '80s rockers went as far as suing Newt Gingrich to stop the Republican hopeful from using "Eye of the Tiger," best known for its appearance in Sylvester Stallone's "Rocky III."

Toby Keith, "American Ride"

Texas governor Rick Perry regularly used Toby Keith's 2009 country hit at his campaign events, indicating Perry's Southern roots and his freewheeling iconoclasm.

First Love, "Game On!"

Though not perhaps an official Rick Santorum selection, this effervescent pop-country ditty earned the former Pennsylvania senator's approval on Twitter. And why not? "He's got the plan," the sisters of First Love sing, "to lower taxes, raise morale and put the power in our hands."

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Photo: K'naan. Credit: James Minchin.

Guitars don't sound strummed so much as bowed, and percussion, even when recorded live, has a warm, chamber-hall-ready aura. “Bloom” is right in Beach House's comfort zone, one that continues to echo twilight mood-setters Mazzy Star.

A track such as “New Year” takes the sound into more otherworldly territory, as verses seem to bend and twist rather than unfold. “On the Sea” brings a bit of classical polish into orbit and “The Hours” is all harmonic mystery. Legrand's vocals hover over the instrumentation and linger over the notes, and Scally builds a world around her that slowly ensnares. 

It all makes for a lovely lullaby of an album, but it just doesn't result in many songs. Album closer “Irene” fades to black at about the seven-minute mark and stays silent for about another six, yet this album is so soft and quiet that one could be forgiven for not even noticing. Elsewhere, the immaculate guitar flourishes of “Wild” ebb into the electronic twinkle of “Lazuli” and like the most perfect of background music, it’s easy to forget they’re even there.

Beach House
“Bloom”
Sub Pop
Two and a half stars (Out of four) 

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Yet Von Teese represents the more mainstream side of burlesque, which was evident by a crowd that featured plenty of casually dressed couples in T-shirts and jeans, gussied up goths, blinged-out clubber types, old people, young people, straight people, gay people, black, white, Latin -- you name it. It seems the appeal of burlesque (and we’re not talking faux Pussycat Dolls burlesque, but the authentic bump and grind sans tattoos or contemporary punk references) is officially a universal phenom, and Von Teese is its high priestess.

She may not have been the first, but no one, expect maybe Bettie Page herself, has done more for the popularity of burlesque than Von Teese. Retro-inspired stripper culture is almost incidental to Von Teese’s star power, as she was once married to Marilyn Manson, has been featured in Vogue and Playboy magazine spreads and her name is branded on a bevy of merch. She doesn’t sing, but if she did, could she be a pop star? Indubitably. Like Madonna, who’s been influenced by burlesque culture herself, Von Teese has a mystical allure, a combination of shameless confidence and perfectionism.

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-- Lina Lecaro

Photo:  Kaylin Idora Photography.