Category: My Opinion

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Action & Thriller Movie Reviews

Quentin Tarantino’s Death Proof – Part One Of Grindhouse

From the writer and director of “Reservoir Dogs”, “Pulp Fiction”, “Jackie Brown”, and “Kill Bill”, Quentin Tarantino has created yet another classic this time in the Grindhouse style. If you like his works, especially the earlier ones (less fantasy and more realism), there is no reason for you to miss “Death Proof” – a believable story of a mad stunt man killing groups of women with his “death proof” car. To better appreciate “Death Proof”, you have to understand where “Grindhouse” comes from.

Grindhouse cinemas, made popular in the 1970s, mainly showed double featured B-rated exploitation movies back to back with one another. Exploitation film belongs to a movie genre whereby lurid contents is focused upon in the expense of production quality. Hence explains Death Proof’s aspects of forbidden sex, wanton violence, drug use, and nudity. And I would expect Robert Rodriguez’s “Planet Terror” – the 2nd film of the double featured “Grindhouse” – to cover the rest of the aspects of freaks, monsters, destruction, rebellion, and mayhem.

If you are familiar with Quentin Tarantino’s style, you should expect no less from “Death Proof”. The script is refreshing, lively, and at times pornographic; the cinematography is brilliant in bringing out the mood of the film through change in color filters, effects, and lighting; the acting is excellent (I strongly believe that director has a part to play in how actors act); the action scene is entertaining and engaging. “Death Proof” does not have a lot of blood and gore scenes like “Kill Bill”. But when it does, the scenes are very real (be warned). The dialogue between the groups of girls itself worth the re-watch value with the camera floating seamlessly as the subject of focus is changed. As a guy, I love the car chasing scene – probably one of the best I have seen. And as for Cynthia, she was clapping and screaming in joy towards the end of the show. I personally find it a bit odd and I guess it is a girl thing. From the storyline perspective, Quentin Tarantino has once again demonstrated his stroke of genius by making a 2-hour long movie from a simple story that can be summed up in one sentence. And finally, it is illegal to walk away from a Quentin Tarantino film without thoroughly enjoyed the soundtrack (pay attention to the ring-tone of one of the actresses). The part when one of the girls keeps changing the music in a jukebox as the conversation proceeds is one of my favorites. The song from the ending credits has such an infectious tone that there is a high chance I am getting the soundtrack just because of that song (anyone else loves that song besides me?).

Now, if you prefer a light entertainment and find explicit languages offensive, you may be in for a huge disappointment. There is a trailer for “Death Proof” but I strongly recommend against watching it if you are going to watch the movie anyway. For the undecided ones, check out the trailer to see if this is the sort of movie you may enjoy.

For true fans of Quentin Tarantino only: I have watched the interview from the directors and the selected cast a while back. This video clip may be a put off even for those who enjoy the movie but for the true fans, we just want more.

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Music Reviews Pop Rock & Alternative

Artist Gone Solo Part 3 of 3 – Tracey Thorn Of EBTG

If you are born after the year of 1979, I bet you one muffin (if you buy me the coffee) that you have heard the Todd Terry remix version of “Missing” from the band Everything But The Girl (EBTG). That song is probably one of my top 20 songs of all time (I should start to keep track of all these songs for one day I may have said it more than 20 times). To hear “Missing”, click onto the link. I bet now you start to remember towards the end of the song when the drum beat disappears and the dance floor is flooded with blinking light in a smoke filled room, you look around seeing everyone in slow step-forward motion engaging in some sort of trance state of mind including yourself … now you remember. Before you make a negative comment on the appearance of Tracey Thorn, she does have a beautiful voice and a wonderful talent. And she tends to draw lots of female fans too (from some of the profiles I have read across the web).

It is rather unfortunately that people equate “Missing” to EBTG’s style. You can’t blame the public for that. After all, “Missing” is probably the most popular song coming from the band giving them the worldwide recognition. I bought the album “Amplified Heart” because of that one song and the rest of the tracks are mainly acoustic. Back then, they were a folk and jazz group.

12 years have passed since “Missing” and Tracey Thorn – the voice of EBTG – has come out with a solo album “Out Of The Woods” with her co-writing the materials with producers from Europe to US (London, Brighton, Nottingham, York, Lisbon, Berlin, and New York). In a way, this array of different talents from different locations have added much variety to her solo album. Music-wise, it is a mix of English pop, folk, and electronica. Those who love “Missing” will rejoice listening to “Out Of The Woods”. Lyrically, it is simple and personal. I especially like the opening lyrics of “By Piccadilly Station I Sat Down And Wept”.

Wait … before you read on, what does that song title reminds you of? Quick quick, it is a game of association.

To me, that reminded me of “By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept” by the famous writer “Paulo Coelho”. The beginning of the song goes something like “Do you ever wonder where love goes? Out there in the ether, I suppose. Sometimes it burns enough to leave a trace in the air. A ghost of me and you in a parallel world somewhere.”.

Tracey Thorn’s voice is hauntingly soothing and relax throughout the album and it is hard not to love all the tracks. However, having a broad team of producers may have added more variety to the album, not all the songs – to me – are of equal standard. I like some a lot more than some others. Enough of words. Let the song do the talking. “It’s All True” – a nice song with a bizarre video. If you like “It’s All True”, you may wish to try “Raise The Roof”. I personally like “A-Z”, “Falling Off A Log”, and epecially “Grand Canyon” a lot but she is not making them into singles … as yet. “Grand Canyon” is as close to “Missing” as you can get.

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Music Reviews Pop Rock & Alternative

Bon Jovi’s Lost Highway – Music Inspired By Nashville, Tennessee

Last evening we had a little jamming session at my home that went pretty well. Except it overran for an hour. We managed to record more than 90 minutes of live music from 8pm to 11pm. My mother who is recently in town asked me this morning if I wrote all these songs. She was pleasantly surprised and wondered why I don’t work in a music industry. I wish life is that simple. What a role reversal here. I thought parents always want their children to be doctors, lawyers, businessmen … and not to pursue a career in art.

And somehow I was not surprised to see the look in my guitarist’s face when he discovered a new Bon Jovi CD lying on the floor together with piles and piles of CDs. He casually asked if Bon Jovi still produces albums (read: this band still exists?).

“Lost Highway” is Bon Jovi’s 10th studio album and I have got 8 of them from “Slippery When Wet” onwards as well as the box set entitled “100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can’t Be Wrong” that contains four CDs packed with 38 unreleased and 12 rare tracks. I have been to one of their concerts (the tour for “These Days” album) when I was in UK, waited 12 hours before the band’s appearance, and was close enough to see the band in action.

Okay. I confess that I am a Bon Jovi fan – one of the 100,000,000.

Once in a while, God bless mankind with a rock band that is so consistent album after album. Really, I cannot tell the difference between “These Days”, “Crush”, and “Bounce” – just to pick a few. Each album comes with a bunch of killer faster songs that people all go wild in bars when cover bands play them (who wouldn’t dance and sing along with the recent hits of “It’s My Life”, “Everyday”, or “Have a Nice Day”?). And each album is never short of killer slow songs. Songs like “Always”, “Bed of Roses”, and “I’ll be There for You” bleed hearts.

“Who Says You Can’t Go Home”, a track from their ninth studio album “Have a Nice Day”, has won the Grammy Award for “Best Country Collaboration with Vocals”. Country? That’s right. Listen to the first two tracks of “Lost Highway”, one may be mistaken that Bon Jovi is going country. There is even one song featured LeAnn Rimes. Initially I thought this album is more appropriate as Richie Sambora’s (lead guitarist) solo album (he has two solo albums that have a certain country feel). After a few rounds of listening, I conclude that “Lost Highway” is still a Bon Jovi album with a certain country feel to it. Half of the album is produced by John Shanks (who produced “Have a Nice Day”) and another half by Dahn Huff. I can’t really tell which half is more “country” but two of my favourite songs “(You Want To) Make A Memory” and “We Got It Going On” are produced by Dahn Huff.

I can certainly see that Richie Sambora has put in a lot of hard work in this album. As a backing vocalist, he compliments Jon’s vocal well and as a lead guitarist, there are a fair amount of guitar solos throughout the album. Richie Sambora has been going through a tough period in his life (including a painful divorce) and according to him, he has poured everything he had into this project, every last bit of soul at his command.

Why Nashville you may ask. To Jon, Nashville is full of songwriters and musicians and he wanted to make an album right in the middle of this town of inspiration. It is of no surprise that the last song of the album is “I Love This Town”.

I am not sure how you may react to this album if you are not a hardcore Bon Jovi fan. “Lost Highway” is definitely not one of those commercial pop rock albums that can easily hook onto you. Nor it is a typical Bon Jovi album that you can instantly fall in love with. According to Cynthia, she said the single “(You Want To) Make a Memory” is enough for her to buy the album. Wish to give that song a try? Watch their live performance below. I personally find the song a bit bland. However, the element of simplicity kind of grows on me. As for the non-hardcore fans? Do sample the album thoroughly to see if this country feel is your cup of tea.

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Drama Movie Reviews

Black Snake Moan – A Bit Of Sex, A Bit Of Jesus, And A Whole Lotta Blues

What happens when you put together a bitter old man whose life has beaten him so bad and a young girl who has a “disease” or a “spell” of wanting to have sex with men at least once a day? A young white girl physically chained up in a black old man’s house. Now, can a bit of Bible and the blues music from the old man’s heart cure this young girl? You will have to watch this movie to find out.

Feeling bad that we have left Tong Kiat out for the last two movies Fantastic Four and Ocean 13, after I have received a message from him that he would be landing at 4pm, I sprang into action and picked “Black Snake Moan”.

You may not need to understand blues music to appreciate “Black Snake Moan” but certainly it will help. The show begins with Son House (aka Eddie James House, Jr.) – an influential American blues singer and guitarist – talking about blues music and his appearance continues at each relevant stage of the movie. The movie title is derived from a song by yet another blues artist named Blind Lemon Jefferson. And lastly, the influence of blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist R. L. Burnside is all over the cast. The grandchildren of Burnside, Cedric Burnside and Kenny Brown, are in Lazarus’s (played by Samuel L. Jackson) band; the character name of the reverend is Reverend R. L.; and there are remarkable similarity between Lazarus and Burnside’s features. In short, the entire movie from casting to soundtrack is heavily blues influenced.

And because of that, it is understandable why Samuel L. Jackson (as “Lazarus”) and Christina Ricci (as “Rae”) are in their shabby clothing most of the time living in a rather shabby house. Even the cars and the town itself are shabby. To me, blues music is from the heart talking about love and human conditions. And neither topic is a happy topic in real life most of the time. Almost throughout the movie, Samuel L. Jackson is unshaven and messy while Christina Ricci is presented with not only no make-up but also a bruised-up face resulted from an assault.

From the storyline perspective, it is original. The acting of Samuel L. Jackson and Christina Ricci (I am a fan of both) are great making most part of the movie an enjoyable experience to watch. The dialogue between them gives them much opportunity to develop their relationship. Did you know that Jackson can play blues guitar and sings? I surely did not. And Christina Ricci who has experimented with self-mutilation after her parents’ divorce – strange as it may sound – seems to have made for this role. The last movie I have watched with her acted as the main actress is “Prozac Nation” (an adaptation from the famous book on depression). I think she is a specialist for this kind of movies.

Interestingly, as Rae’s boyfriend (imagine what sort of man would date a girl who has slept with half of the town), it is none other than Justin Timberlake as the character Ronnie who suffers from extreme anxiety (what a movie filled with weird characters). Seems to me that Rae is the only antidote Ronnie can find in this town and they are in love. I personally question Justin Timberlake’s acting ability. Fortunately his part is not long and he does manage to squeeze out an ounce or two of tears when needed too. Oh well, when not needed to as well. (Afterthought: Why am I so critical to Justin Timberlake? Is it because I am a guy? It is not uncommon that a film pulls in an eye candy – a girl usually – to lighten up the show. And funny as it seems, Justin is probably the prettiest thing in the whole movie.)

Again, is “Black Snake Moan” for everybody? Let me ask you, is blues music for everybody (answer is probably no)? I enjoyed the show a lot and probably agree with some critics that this could be the best movie of 2007 so far. Tong Kiat and Cynthia find it “different”. You may wish to check out the trailer by clicking here.

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Fantasy & Sci-fi Movie Reviews

Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer – Is This Better Than The Previous One?

Same reason why I have to catch Ocean 13 asap, I found myself inside Orchard Cinelesiure the second time in the same week. And what’s up with Cinelesiure? It is perpetually crowded with youngsters dressed in hip outfit. Is this the school holiday period? Check this out. We spotted Singapore Idol contestants Joakim and Paul Twohill both dressed in black sitting outside the cafe at level 4. Paul Twohill still has the same hairstyle.

Why do I watch Fantastic Four? Democracy. We all take turn to pick our favorite movies. Why does Cynthia pick Fantastic Four? When I asked her that question, she gave me that look as in … “Duh? Why do you need to ask? Isn’t that obvious?” Me being who I am, just kept asking. Turns out that she is a fan of the comic book (oh no … another thing in common with Benny, my sister’s boyfriend) and she finds the dude (Chris Evans) who can turn into a fireball at will cool and adorable. Fine. With that, I have secured my license to drool over Jessica Alba for the entire 92 minutes of the movie in whichever angle I want.

Many deem the first installment a total failure. Majority of the reviews on average rated it as below average. Some people I talked to find the first installment entertaining especially those who walked in with no or low expectation. So, why do movie goers still have such a high level of anticipation for “Rise Of The Silver Surfer” (source: a number of blog sites I visit as well as from friends around me)?

That I have no clue. I personally am not a fan of Fantastic Four. Taking the team of four apart, they do not have strong individual identity nor can be a standalone hero. Yet as a team, they are not as diverse as X-Men nor as colorful as Hellboy and his fellow agents. I think I shall stop here or else Cynthia won’t iron my casual clothing anymore.

“Rise Of The Silver Surfer” is no doubt better than the previous installment. On top of the same old problem they have to fight, now they are faced with a problem as big as galactic annihilation. Something out there is destroying planets. Can Fantastic Four stop it in time? This storyline itself has handed Fantastic Four the wow factor that the only sci-fi movie that comes close is perhaps “The Fifth Element”. Actually I am jealous. Why doesn’t Spiderman fight something of that galactic level? Why don’t the X-Men be united – heroes and villains and humans – and fight something of that galactic level? Supported by the nicely done computer generated graphics and the sound effects (love some of the soundtracks), the film does give the movie goers the feeling of watching something epic taking them to the four corners of the world. The film also devotes time to develop the characters, which is what I enjoy watching.

So is “Rise Of The Silver Surfer” a must-watch? I think the flaws in this movie may unfortunately limit it to “for fans only”. Jessica Alba (as Sue Storm) kind of looks awful in this movie. What’s up with her makeup? I begin to doubt if she can act at all. Talking about acting, Ioan Gruffudd’s (as Reed Richards) acting is not impressive. One scene seeing him dances is, to me, purely unwatchable. I still prefer him acting in the Medieval setting like his role as Lancelot in King Arthur. And I can’t feel the chemistry between these two who are supposed to get married. I can’t comment on Michael Chiklis (as Ben Grimm) because most of the time he is a rock. Chris Evans’s (Johnny Storm) acting is okay and to the least, I do feel the brother-sister love between him and Jessica at the crucial parts of the show.

So, what’s my final say? A movie with enough to entertain if you can overlook some of the flaws.

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Hard Rock & Metal Music Reviews

Marilyn Manson’s “Eat Me, Drink Me” – The Antichrist Superstar Turns Human (Or Not)?

If I am to name five artists who inspire my music creation journey, that would be Tori Amos, Pink Floyd, PJ Harvey, Prince, and Marilyn Manson in no particular order. That explains the length of this blog and I challenge you to devour every word I wrote – the finest piece of review I have to date perhaps.

Fans fall in love with Marilyn Manson’s unique dark music, his wit offstage, and his satirical views on government and religion. This unique blend of attributes gives forth an artist that there is none other than Marilyn Manson himself. Arduous fans support him to death while religious groups and government spokespersons protest against his artistic works records after records. It is not hard to imagine when he shamelessly voices out his religious opinions taking on the symbol of an Antichrist. His state opinions were being blamed for triggering the Columbine High School massacre just because the shooter was listening to Marilyn Manson during the shooting. As interviewed in Michael Moore’s controversial documentary “Bowling for Columbine”, Marilyn Manson argued that part of the American culture is to trigger fear and to find a common scapegoat. In this case, an entertainer is being picked while Bush was dropping bombs at Afghanistan causing more casualty than Columbine massacre. His views on government, fear, consumerism, and the American culture of guilt hiding and the use of violence as a mean to an end that is dated back in World World II – can be intriguingly intelligent.

Marilyn Manson is a stage name derived from Marilyn Monroe and Charles Manson representing the two extremes of the spectrum in the American history. His music style is hauntingly dark and each album of his takes on a cohesive theme. With the talented Trent Reznor (who later formed Nine Inch Nail) collaborating with Marilyn Manson for that one record, “Antichrist Superstar” is perhaps his most notable work to date. And with “Antichrist Superstar” spins a trilogy of two more records “Mechanical Animals” and “Holy Wood”. His subsequent record “The Golden Age of Grotesque” was inspired by the seamy underside of Weimar Berlin specifically the underground artists back in 1930’s in the pre-Nazi Germany era. For those who are new to Marilyn Manson, I would recommend either the more accessible “Mechanical Animals” or the more tuneful “The Golden Age of Grotesque”. I will get to his latest work “Eat Me, Drink Me” in just a minute. If you are not too fussy on the lack of final polishing on the record production and if you usually listen to rock music but not nu-metal, “Eat Me, Drink Me” may be a better choice for you as his other records can get a bit “noisy”.

Marilyn Manson does not seem to have problem in attracting talents in assembling his band lineup even though some left or were fired along the way. John5 joined as the live guitarist for “Mechanical Animals” and was officially part of the band until lately. Twiggy Ramirez, an old time bassist and guitarist who contributed much to the music of the band, was ousted from the band after the “Holy Wood” album due to creativity differences. For “The Golden Age of Grotesque”, producer and bassist Skold was introduced into the band and have become a major source of music writing together with lead guitarist John5 who stepped up after the departure of Twiggy Ramirez. Probably due to difference in lifestyle, John5 – the only member with a clean image – left (or was fired from) the band after “The Golden Age of Grotesque”. There are fans who miss Twiggy’s guitar playing and there are even more fans who miss John5. In any case, Skold is now the new lead guitarist of Marilyn Mason with a new bassist coming on board from Prodigy to replace his previous role in the band.

While stifled by the circumstances of marriage with Dita Von Teese (once made it to the cover of Playboy magazine), Marilyn Manson withdrew from the music creation scene for a couple of years until he met his new 19 years old girlfriend Evan Rachel Wood. All of a sudden, instead of writing songs based on his opinions in the expense of shutting everyone around him, he started to write songs singing for someone. It comes as no surprise that “Eat Me, Drink Me” is inspired by his recent divorce and his new found love. Theme-wise, it is still as dark as before, more towards depression. However because the songs are more personal, he sings with emotions that can easily come across from the final recording. Music-wise, “Eat Me, Drink Me” was recorded in his own home studio with his buddy Skold and together, they played all the tracks from lead to bass guitar to drum programming to vocals. Bassist Skold has proven to be an all rounded producer and musician. “Personal Jesus”, a remake of one of Depeche Mode’s songs that was featured in his greatest hits album “Lest We Forget”, was created entirely by Skold with Marilyn Manson only contributed on the vocal track. Due to all these circumstances, “Eat Me, Drink Me” is heavy on the guitar and vocals and Marilyn Manson’s music continues to be tuneful like “The Golden Age of Grotesque”. One may observe that “Eat Me, Drink Me” is less produced and as close to unplugged as you can get with Marilyn Manson.

So, has our Antichrist Superstar turned human with songs that are sung with his heart and not opinions that humor the systems in the satirical way? Lyrics-wise, “Eat Me, Drink Me” explores the concept of “devouring someone whom you love dearly” or for that matter, “getting devoured by the one you love most”. In his own words (and definitely not mine), like Christ whose body and blood is consumed by the Christian community, Marilyn Manson is turning himself into a symbol to be … devoured. Intriguing concept I know but Marilyn Manson being the shock rocker himself, no topic is a taboo.

Is this change of his music direction for good? According to him, although he does not regret songs in the past that were written based on his opinions, he wish to have spent more time writing songs for the audience – even if it is for that one person. Besides music creation, Marilyn Manson does lots of watercolor painting having his own art exhibitions. He has a new upcoming film of which he is playing the director role.

With all that said, I think Marilyn Manson is a very talented artist if people can look beyond the way he sings, the way he looks, and the music themes that are less than mainstream.

I do not intend to embed the new promotional video clip “Heart-Shaped Glasses” again in this blog. You can view it in my previous blog. Now that I have listened to the entire album, in that video clip, the beginning instrumental track (with Marilyn Manson and Evan Rachel Wood having simulated sex) comes from the song “Evidence”. And inside the car when Evan was asking Marilyn Manson to drive “faster, faster … faster, faster, faster”, that is from the song “Are You Rabbit?”. The artwork of him and Evan holding out a knife while taking pictures with a Polaroid and the final car crash scene, those are from the song “Just A Car Crash Away”. Lyrically, tell me if I have a warped mind or not, I think this song no doubt is for his new girlfriend. But I think it is partially inspired by his science experiments when he had to dissect something (I have personally dissected a frog once in my life).

The chorus of “Heart-Shaped Glasses” goes something like “Don’t break, don’t break my heart and I won’t break your heart-shaped glasses. Little girl, little girl, you should close your eyes, that blue is getting me high, making me low”, which sounds kind of normal. But for the rest of the song “She reminds me of the one in school when I was cutting … and she’ll never cover up what we did with a dress … And I don’t mind you keeping me on pins and needles. If I could stick to you and you could stick me too.” – those words got me thinking especially when this album is about devouring someone you love. Maybe I am warped, maybe I am used to Marilyn Manson’s music … either way, I am one of his zealous fans.

PS. I wrote this blog without Wikipedia. The page on Marilyn Manson is down. It is hard! Thank you YouTube for all the interview videos and all the wonderful materials in the Internet especially MarilynManson.com that contains lots of interviews from various reputed magazines. And of course, I have been following Marilyn Manson’s career for a long time. I can even recite his progress backward.

PPS. Cynthia is looking for a pair of heart-shaped glasses right now. What’s the odd of a guy gets to live with someone who loves to listen to Marilyn Manson as well? Priceless.

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Action & Thriller Movie Reviews

Ocean’s 13 – It’s Brad Pitt and George Clooney Again!

These days I wake up shocked by the reading on the clock. I have got to do something about it. 4.30pm I sent two text messages to my Movie Review Squad. Unfortunately TK was stuck in the office doing testing on what my best guess would be … something to do with satellite coordinates. Normally I would postpone the outing but my mother will be landing in Singapore this Thursday. Quick! Go watch some movies before having to give my mother undivided attention for … 2 weeks or so.

Did you know that Ocean’s 11 is a remake of a 1960 heist film? The Ocean franchise has the trademarks of an intricate plot, a cast loaded with movie stars, and treasure to steal. Ocean’s 13 is no different except first, the plot is much easier to follow than 11 and 12 (of course the downside is there is not one big “ah-ha” resolution of the plot in the end that makes you absolutely want to watch the movie again). And second, both Julia Roberts and Catherine Zeta-Jones are not amongst the cast. Julia Roberts was pregnant during the filming of the movie. Too bad. I really think having two ladies in the team kind of balance out Ocean’s team configuration nicely. On the plus side, having Al Pacino as Willie Bank added much weight to the acting. As for the rest of the crew, I always enjoy how Brad Pitt and George Clooney acted together in the Ocean series finishing off each other’s sentences. I can’t believe that I am writing this in my blog but Brad Pitt is actually very … cool! I enjoy Matt Damon’s acting as well. Such a talented actor he is.

If you have already watched Ocean’s 11 and 12, there is no reason why you should give 13 a miss. I remember how confusing it was when I first watched Ocean’s 11 due to the number of characters. Familiar does pay off for Ocean’s 13. What if you have not watched Ocean’s 11 or 12 yet? I hardly think it matters. The stories are pretty independent from each other.

Ocean’s 13 is a good movie. Go watch it unless you are not into this movie genre.

Categories
Music Reviews Pop Rock & Alternative

Maroon 5’s “It Won’t Be Soon Before Long” – I Like The Previous One Better

Before I sound too excited and enthusiatic like I always do, for the record, I like Maroon 5’s previous album “Songs About Jane” (2004) much better. It is more musical and less commercial. The slow songs in “Songs About Jane” are memorable. Most of the slow songs in “It Won’t Be Soon Before Long” are lame. Some have promising beginning but fall short on the chorus.

Maroon 5’s line up has not changed much. The drummer Ryan Dusick left the band due to injuries and is replaced by Matt Flynn. That shouldn’t change the band’s sound that much but somehow, some of the upbeat songs are more dynamic, which I like. The songs are leaning more towards the mainstream pop rock than previously that are more towards soul and funk rock. Perhaps, a new drummer does make a difference to the sound of the music after all.

I can understand why people like this new album. Cynthia and I have watched Maroon 5 performed in one of American Idol’s result nights. I found the song upbeat and pleasant to listen to and Cynthia has immediately fallen in love with it.

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Book Reviews Fiction

Scott Phillips’s Debut “The Ice Harvest” – A Decent Noir Fiction

I am not surprised that “The Ice Harvest” (written in 2000) was made into a film back in 2005. It has all the basic elements of a blockbuster – blood, money, and sex. One day I wandered into Cold Storage while killing time and at the book section, I picked up the hardcover version of “The Ice Harvest” selling at a discounted price of S$8. The novel looks short (about 60,000 words I reckon), which is just what I needed. I was intrigued by the excerpt of the story and the book comes with the marketing statement: “You’ll love it as much as Fargo … or your money back”. I don’t think contacting Marian Hursey on 01256 302 900 will get my S$8 back but such a level reassurance got me curious. I have not read the book “Fargo” yet (supposed to be one of the classic story of murder and mayhem). Perhaps one day, perhaps never.

Set in Wichita, Kansas on Christmas Even 1979, this merely 200 pages fiction takes the readers for a 24-hours journey of Charlie Arglist’s life in the form of black comedy. I especially enjoy how the author describes the surroundings and the people in details and then introduces the names mainly through conversations. Somehow it is more memorable that way. Nothing is in excess in “The Ice Harvest” and there are enough short events to keep me interested from the first page to the last. Some of the story development actually surprised me. Just enough amount of mystery is planted as the story unfolds that keeps the story engaging all the way till the end. I wish I could say more than just “blood, money, and sex” (note: if you don’t enjoy noir fictions, this book is not for you) but part of the fun of reading this book is to be surprised (like I did) so I better wrap up this blog right now.

I thoroughly enjoy reading “The Ice Harvest” and am now a new fan of Scott Phillips. Time to hit the library to borrow more of his books!

Categories
Country Folk & Jazz Music Reviews

Lucinda Williams’s West – Tranforming Pain Into Beauty

There are albums that are meant to entertain. There are albums that are meant to be great background music – be it as driving in the car or chilling out with friends. And there are albums like Lincinda Williams’s “West” that are meant to be devoured – every note and every word. Listen to “West” you really need to be alone, free from any distraction, and to digest each and every word Lincinda Williams sings. Perhaps the most personal album ever made by Williams, it is inspired by her mother’s death as well as a relationship that ended badly. Lyrically, it is simple and beautiful. In “Mama You Sweet”, we have “Ocean becomes tears – that ebb and flow – over the lines in my face – and the pain in my soul – and pain hits a wall – and doesn’t know which way to go – and ocean says I’m crying now – and tells pain to follow”. Musically, some tracks are hauntingly powerful like “Unsuffer Me” and “Come On”.

I first noticed Lucinda Williams with her previous album “World Without Tears” that without doubt one of my favorite contemporary folk albums of all time. How does “West” compare to “World Without Tears”? I guess “West” is a whole lot more intense while “World Without Tears” may be more enjoyable to listen to, music-wise. My only reservation with “West” is that it can get a bit dreary towards the end. After all, the album is close to 70 minutes of length with a somewhat narrow theme. (For comparison, click onto the links to view the live performances of “Bleeding Fingers And Broken Guitar Strings” and “World Without Tears” from her previous album.)

Below is the official behind the scenes of the recording of “West” from the artist who is a three-time Grammy Award winner and named as “American’s Best Songwriter” by TIME magazine in 2002. The song “Are You Alright” is the opening track of “West”. Enjoy.

There is another track from “West” that was performed in the Jay Leno Show recently. Click here to view “Everything Has Changed”.