Madonna - Medellin & I Rise Staunch defender of her previous two releases (MDNA and Rebel Heart), I am supremely underwhelmed with the two songs released from Madame X, Madonna's upcoming new album. The saturation of autotune aside, both tracks lay flat, delivering none of the Madonna mastery I'm used to: songcraft. "Medellin" is breezy … Continue reading Music Box: Madame Zzz
Music Box: Prince – Partyman/Let’s Go Crazy (Tower Records, West Hollywood, CA 3.21.06)
Prince Shreds On "Let's Go Crazy" at Tower Records in West Hollywood 3.21.06 Three years later, and the loss of one of the singular pioneers in the history of Rock N Roll still stings as if we just heard the news. Ubiquitous for decades, that he’s not here to continue to gift us with his … Continue reading Music Box: Prince – Partyman/Let’s Go Crazy (Tower Records, West Hollywood, CA 3.21.06)
Reel Life: Oscar Screener Roundup
I'm not writing full reviews, or writing about, every Oscar Screener I've seen. Just some notes I've jotted down after watching these particular films. Better writers and critics have better blogs and reviews than I'll ever muster up the time for. Roma is a rhapsody, really. A haunting beauty of an experience. It is both … Continue reading Reel Life: Oscar Screener Roundup
Legacy: RIP James Ingram
Buttered Soul Pop is how I once described his emotional, sweet, passionate baritone voice...and now it - one of my favorite vocalists - is silenced at 66. Rest peacefully, James Ingram. Here he is in 1981 on "Soul Train" singing one of his (many) signature songs (and one of my eternal favorites), "Just Once." Yes, … Continue reading Legacy: RIP James Ingram
Reel Life: Bohemian Rhapsody – Radio Ca Ca
Bohemian Rhapsody is another one of those anomalies where a perfectly awful film gets saved by an incredible performance (much like last year’s Three Billboards and Frances McDormand) - the remarkable Rami Malek never falls into the trap of mimicry, which would be easy to do in lesser hands, considering Freddie Mercury’s larger-than-the-universe persona, rather … Continue reading Reel Life: Bohemian Rhapsody – Radio Ca Ca
Legacy: Jerry Orbach – We’ll Always Remember
Jerry Orbach photo courtesy Masterworks Broadway Of course we all loved him as Lennie Briscoe on Law & Order, a role he played for 12 years before succumbing to prostate cancer. But many of us, who are old enough, have loved Jerry Orbach for years prior, whether as a leading song-and-dance man on Broadway (he … Continue reading Legacy: Jerry Orbach – We’ll Always Remember
Legacy: George Michael – The Grave
Remembering him on the second anniversary of George Michael’s too-early death, here’s his haunting version of Don McLean’s “The Grave.” Originally released on McLean’s 1971 landmark album, American Pie, Michael recorded the song in February 2003, as a protest to the imminent invasion of Iraq. McLean wrote it as a Vietnam protest song. After hearing … Continue reading Legacy: George Michael – The Grave
