Men of rock

Aug. 31, 2008

We may have a couple of months yet to go for the year, but it’s already quite obvious who the most modern rockin’ men of 2008 are. And just what defines a top-notch musical man? How about these eight factors: accomplishment, originality, forward-thinking, collaboration, philanthropy, environmental support, and a great balance of both quantity and quality? We think that this year’s Top 8 Men of Rock have got most or all of these attributes in spades, so let’s count ‘em down.

8. KANYE WEST
His accomplishments got him officially on the list, but his ego keeps him at number 8. West actually had a pretty great year; he did go through that Bonnaroo debacle - during which he postponed his own concert, keeping his fans waiting for hours and hours until the early morning until conditions were “just right” for his light show - but he recovered a few points by being both on time and an entertaining performer during his set at Lollapalooza.
In addition, he won Best International Performer at The Brit Awards, and two Grammys: one for Best Rap Album and one for Best Solo Rap Performer. He has also participated in several charity causes including various benefits for Hurricane Katrina victims and Iraq War veterans. Now if he’d learn a little humility to go along with all those skills, his overall persona would be a lot more appealing.


7. JACK WHITE
While The White Stripes had a pretty slow 2008, Jack White’s other band - The Raconteurs - and he himself kept pretty darned busy. The Raconteurs went into the recording studio in January, and emerged a scant three months later with a complete new album, Consolers of the Lonely, which was officially released on March 25, although it was leaked by an overenthused iTunes a week earlier.
White hit the road with The Raconteurs to promote the disc, playing shows at a plethora of festivals, including Austin City Limits, Coachella, Lollapalooza, and the Reading and Leeds fests in the UK. Film-wise, White snagged the title song for the upcoming 22nd James Bond film, Quantum of Solace, on which he’ll duet with singer Alicia Keys, and he also surfaced in Martin Scorsese’s Rolling Stones concert documentary, Shine a Light, in which he played himself.

6. JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE
JT was a little more under-the-radar this year (which is why he’s only at number six instead of higher on our list), but he still racked up some pretty notable successes. In addition to his Best Dance Recording and Male Pop Performance Grammys, he also hobnobbed musically with some of the best, recording the track “4 Minutes” with none other than Madonna and Timbaland.
Timberlake’s film career is also still moving steadily forward with his comedy role in Mike Myers’ The Love Guru and his dramatic role in The Open Road. He also put his success to good use, donating $100,000 from his Australian tour to the Wildlife Warriors (Steve Irwin’s charity) and another $100,000 to the Memphis Music Foundation.

5. JAMES BLUNT
Germany’s Echo Awards named singer-songwriter James Blunt their Best International Male Artist this year, and he’s still cruising along nicely on his 2007 album release, All The Lost Souls. Blunt spent much of this past year touring to promote that same disc, and was also featured performing live in an acclaimed episode of Live from Abbey Road.
A former soldier, Blunt is a patron of both Help for Heroes, which raises money to provide better facilities to wounded British servicement, and Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders). In addition, he supports environmental causes (he often screens the trailer for the Al Gore environmental film An Inconvenient Truth at his shows), and has been planting a tree for every advance sales concert ticket purchased through his website.

4. MOBY
NYC native Moby remains firmly entrenched in his New York City neighborhood (living in a small apartment across the street from David Bowie), and also remains a firm influence in the electronica/DJ music scene. The vegan multi-talent released a new, eclectic electro-dance album this year, Last Night, which was inspired by a typical NY night out on the town. In addition, Moby contributed a track to the new Songs for Tibet album, which was released to coincide with the kickoff of the 2008 Olympics and serves as an initiative to support Tibet and the current Dalai Lama.
Moby also utilizes his musical pull to support plenty of other causes, among them the moveon.org political organization and The Humane Society; his online blog is also widely read as he speaks out regarding his support for Barack Obama as well as writing up plenty of his musical observations.

3. BECK
After spending much of 2007 in the studio with an unnamed producer - who turned out to be Danger Mouse - Beck dropped a new 10-track disc in May, Modern Guilt, which kicked off with single “Chemtrails,” hit the U.S. album charts at #4 the week of its release, and proved that the groundbreaking musician has still got the It Factor. The album has continued to gain plenty of momentum over the summer season. Another of his albums, his groundbreaking set Odelay, is also back on the charts with a brand new 2008 two-CD Deluxe Edition that showcases one of Beck’s soundtrack contributions and several rare tracks that fans are snapping up like crazy.
Not one to rest on his achievements, Beck is spending a good chunk of 2008 on the tour bus, treating fans to his eclectic and high-energy live sets at such big-ticket venues as the Austin City Limits Festival, Seattle’s Bumbershoot Fest, and New York City’s United Palace Theater. He created a new website for the new album with plenty of free downloadable gear for his fans to dig as well. Groovy.
2. CHRIS MARTIN
Being a member of one of the biggest modern rock bands in the world might make one a little apprehensive to take risks in fear of messing up the “magic formula.” But Coldplay singer Chris Martin was confident enough to take a rather big chance with his band this year, developing a new sound that puts Martin’s voice in a lower register and stretches the band’s music into more distorted, Latin-influenced, and experimental directions.
It’s paying off. The new album, Viva La Vida, has already set a record for most-downloaded album, and topped the UK album chart after being on sale for only three days. In addition to their musical achievements, Martin and the rest of Coldplay regularly turn down endorsements so as not to cheapen their music, and instead put their energies into supporting such causes as Amnesty International and Oxfam’s Make Trade Fair; the band as a whole gives 10% of their earnings to charity. And, heck, they sewed their own costumes for their current tour, too.

1. DAVID BYRNE
It’s not the ‘70s - or even the ‘80s (the two eras of Talking Heads, Byrne’s original band) - but David Byrne has shown himself to be more of a musical renaissance man than anyone else on our list. Let’s start with the fact that the distinctive vocalist also plays guitar, bass, keyboards, synth, flute, clarinet, autoharp, and harmonium. Whew.
Now we’ll take a look at his past year of accomplishments. This past spring, he took part in the Paul Simon retrospective concert series in NYC as a performer; this past summer, he put together a remarkably innovative musical installation in New York City’s Battery Maritime Building (a 99-year-old ferry terminal) in which he hooked the entire structure of the building, including pipes and pillars, to an old pipe organ. Dubbed “Playing the Building,” it allowed visitors to use the keys of the organ to trigger sounds created from the building itself.
This fall, he released his critically
-acclaimed collaboration album with none other than Brian Eno, Everything That Happens Will Happen Today, and is doing an extensive concert tour to promote the disc with Eno himself. And in his spare time (Byrne has spare time?), he exercised his artistic talents, designed some wildly creative metal bicycle racks (shaped like guitars, coffee cups, and, for the one on Wall Street, a dollar sign, ’natch) that were installed throughout Manhattan. Age ain’t nothin’ but a number to the multi-talented Byrne - and that’s why he’s our number one.

HONORABLE MENTION
And in the “Honorable Mention” department are eight additional guys, in no particular order, that we want to keep our eyes (and ears) on for 2009:
- JACK JOHNSON, whose 2008 album Sleep Through the Static has already hit the Top 10 in the UK, and whose own Brushfire Studios is making great strides in green recording; it’s one of the most environmentally efficient studios in the world, complete with FSC paper products, a low carbon footprint, and a roof covered in solar panels.
- DAVID COOK, winner of the 2008 American Idol contest; this signer-songwriter, who won with both his powerful vocals and his guitar skills, is currently co-writing songs with Collective Soul’s Ed Roland and Lifehouse’s Jason Wade for his debut album, and already broke at least one record by having 11 songs debut on the Billboard Hot 100 the week after winning Idol.
- LUPE FIASCO, who won Best Urban/Alternative Performance at this year’s Grammy Awards, and who took on one of the main stages at this year’s Lollapalooza Festival; Fiasco also toured with Kanye West, and will join Mos Def and Billy Bragg at the Take Back Labor Day festival concert to support better wages, healthcare, and retirement security on the first day of the Republican National Convention.
- ALEX TURNER, who helms the cool Brit indie-rock band Arctic Monkeys; under Turner’s lead, the band won both Best British Group and Best Album at The Brit Awards, and are working with Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age) on another new album.
- JAMIE LIDELL, the neo-soul singer with “itchy sonic feet” as he puts it, who has been channeling everyone from Stevie Wonder to David Bowie to Beck via his new album, Jim, stunned the crowds at Lollapalooza, and only looks to get even more intriguing next year.
- JEFF TWEEDY, Wilco’s skillful frontman, may have not put an album out with his band in 2008 - they’re aiming for 2009 for their next set - but he still made a huge impression this year, helping fill up the field at one of the headlining Lollapalooza stages, being nominated for a 2008 Grammy for Best Rock Album (for Wilco’s 2007 release Sky Blue Sky), and performing solo at the “Change Rocks” fundraiser concert for Barack Obama.
- ALBERT HAMMOND, JR., guitarist for The Strokes turned solo artist, who released his second solo disc, Como Te Llama, this summer, who’s been tapped as opening act for Coldplay’s European dates, and who’s also designing a line of hipster men’s suits.
- COLIN MELOY, The Decemberists’ frontman, who’s got 3 singles planned for release in 2008 (“Always the Bridesmaid” Vols. 1, 2, and three), and, with his band, joint-organized a rally for Barack Obama in their native Portland, Oregon, that drew 75,000 people.