Today, as I strolled through Manhattan, with not a care or destination, I imagined a scenario where I'd meet the Gossip Girl cast, and get to ask one question (am I watching to much TMZ?). I came up with a great question though, to ask Taylor Momsen if her band is "Taylor Momsen & The Pretty Reckless" or just "The Pretty Reckless."
I couldn't give a hoot about her answer, personally, but the question itself is a good one. It reminds me of a story about the Doors. They were introduced one night as "Jim Morrison & The Doors" and Morrison emphatically claimed that it was just "The Doors."
Attaching one's name ahead of the band implies that the person is not in the band, but instead they are two entities collaborating. By just having the band name, there is a sense of togetherness, and a lack of ego. Imagine "Hayley Williams & Paramore" or "Paul McCartney & Wings" (ok, bad example on the second one.)
Although, actually, that does lead me into where the use if the name ahead of the band makes sense. Paul McCartney was a performer before and after Wings. Wings themselves were a backing band, made of rotating talent (aside from the constant presence of wife Linda, and Denny Laine.) Paul wrote the material, and aside from 1975-76, when Wings was a more conventional and democratic band, it was really just Paul and musicians.
Anywho, this goes into the real topic of today's post: Selena Gomez. She has an album in the pipelines, called "Kiss And Tell". It is due out September 29th. The tracklisting is still unknown, but a bonus track has been talked about, a new recording of "Tell Me Something I Don't Know," which in original form came out last year, but was probably recorded much earlier. The album is to be by "Selena Gomez & The Scene." That's right, unlike Miley or Demi, Selena has a band name. Now, I already discussed the implications with having a name tagged ahead, but I wonder if perhaps Selena did not want to have her name there. I say that because when she first talked about making an album, she said she wanted to not have her name attached. So, I'm guess label Hollywood Records had the final say. By the way, the name is The Scene, because Selena says people jab at her by saying "she thinks she is scene" and the like. I'm just glad it rolls off the tongue nicely. Has that alliteration to it.
Then there is Miley. What a week. She stirred the pot a bit with her Teen Choice Awards performance. While singing her new single, "Party In the USA," part of her routine had her on a pole. Like a stripper. That, plus her argueably age-inappropiate attire got her some bad reviews, but also wound up stirring support from her fans, evidenced in the Twitter Trending Topic "#weloveyoumiley". Okay, not the best evidence. I concur.
I already posted about how the press likes to play up her sexual undertones (okay, overtones), and adds perception that is not necessarily there (I think that is what I said...). Either way, her new song is a hit, and she has her new EP coming out August 31st (with 7 songs, including "Before The Storm" live with the Jonas Brothers, and her song from the film "The Last Song.")
Miranda Cosgrove has a new song called "Raining Sunshine," which will be played during the credits of the film "Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs."
Emily Osment is taking over Radio Disney tomorrow. What a coup! Heads will roll! Wait, nevermind. Anyway, she will premiere "All The Way Up," and discuss an new EP. (My guess is that the EP will contain songs that will later be on her 2010 album, but that is yet to be seen.)
And finally, "Send It On" and the Wizards Soundtrack were released. "Send It On" sounds like a lost eighties charity single, with its' gospel/hip hop beat. Except the singers were not born in the eighties. (Well, Kevin Jonas was. Maybe Joe too?)
The Wizards soundtrack was cool for the Selena songs (althought the absence of "Make It Happen" is a slap). Selena had good songs to work with. Sure, this is the equivilant of Hannah Montana, in that Selena had no creative imput. But she sure can sing, and these tracks make the best of that!
Showing posts with label Miley Cyrus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Miley Cyrus. Show all posts
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Here We Go Go Go Again!
Before I start my review of Demi Lovato's "Here We Go Again," I'd like to mention my journey to buy it.
My friend and I were taking a long walk to the local Barnes & Nobles. On the way, we saw Anthony Anderson filming the movie "The Backup Plan" in a park ("The Backup Plan" stars Jennifer Lopez, who was not there at the time.) We eventually reached the book store, but they were selling the CD a bit overpriced. My friend had to get home, but I had all the time in the world, so I decided to walk to the mall. Another couple of miles. Once there, I found the CD in Best Buy, for a good price. But I still had to get back home. I could have taken the bus, but that would have defeated the purpose of going to the mall to save money. So I walked home (flipping through the CD booklet on the way). It was a long walk, but it was a nice summer evening.
Anyway, that was a week ago, and now, a week later, I have listened to and reviewed the album.
"Here We Go Again" is Demi's #1 charting sophomore album. It is meant to be more a work of her own (as versuses her debut, which featured much input from the JoBros.)
The album opens with 4 songs about heartaches. All kinda sound similar, perhaps even too similar. The title track is included here, and it is a standout. The other pretty much retread (although "Solo" has a nifty pun, as in "so low.")
But, before I could write off the album, track five marked a turning point. "Quiet" is a schizo-pop arrangement of a song, and, especially the way Demi sings it, recalls Björk's "It's Oh So Quiet."
"Catch Me" could be "Don't Forget" redux, but also is a great example of both Demi's growth as a singer (she shows more control than on the latter), and also in style (this one is less Jonas-y, and is in fact written solely by Demi). With the string section, it is a beautiful number.
The next few songs are pretty good too. There is "Everytime You Lie" (a jazzy track), "Got Dynamite" (a fuzzy, slow rocker that many reviewers hail as a standout, but not my favorite), and "Stop The World" (with Nick Jonas, and it is too obviously Nick Jonas).
Demi's one collaboration with John Mayer that made the album is "World Of Chances." It has some of Mayer's signature guitar thrown in, plus some of Demi's prettiest, lightest vocals out of any track on here (making the lyrical themes of missed chances all the more tragic and subtle.)
"Remember December" is a great track, the combines a techno beat with a fast and crunchy rock arrangement. It shows offs, especially Demi's voice, and might be the most in your face, not too mention perhaps the album's best rocker.
The album closes with "Everything You're Not." In this song, Demi sings "All I want/ is everything you're not" to a boy. She has finally learned her lesson not to keep going back (like in the title track.) Unless she does wind up go go going back....
The album includes to bonus tracks. "Gift Of A Friend" is Demi's song for a Tinkerbell movie. It is characteristically a Disney ballad, and with its' celtic flavor, calls to mind Selena's Tinkerbell song, "Fly To Your Heart". Lastly, included is "So Far So Great", the "Sonny With A Chance" theme song. Sure, it is not as mature as the rest of the album. But after all the deeper emotions and teen-love angst and dramatics, it is nice to close with a cheery rocker.
The album jumps across many styles. But the arrangments still have similarities, which keeps the album from feeling unfocused. Instead, Demi shows how varied she can be, and more importantly, that she is capable of handling all these styles. Far from being a one trick pony.
Many reviews excitedly claim that this album is better than "Don't Forget." But I love "Don't Forget." I don't want to betray it. Besides, the two albums are very different. "Here We Go Again" is maturer, somewhat darker, and features more slow songs over rock cuts. And both are very good. I'd leave it at that.
Rumors of a future deluxe edition are out. Of course, Demi has three known songs she left off the album. "For The Love Of A Daughter" was originally on the album, but removed when Demi decided it was perhaps too mature a theme for her listeners. "Shut Up And Love Me" also intially made the album, but is now rumored to be saved for the deluxe edition. Either way, Demi has said it is one of her favorites.
There is also another John Mayer track, "Love Is The Answer," which may be another track for the deluxe edition.
Some good news to end this post! "Send It On," featuring Demi, Selena, Miley, and The Jonas Brothers, will premiere on Dsiney Channel on August 7th, and on iTunes August 11th.
And, of course, on Tuesday, the "Wizards Of Waverly Place" soundtrack comes out, featuring 3 new songs by Selena (along with the show's theme song.)
My friend and I were taking a long walk to the local Barnes & Nobles. On the way, we saw Anthony Anderson filming the movie "The Backup Plan" in a park ("The Backup Plan" stars Jennifer Lopez, who was not there at the time.) We eventually reached the book store, but they were selling the CD a bit overpriced. My friend had to get home, but I had all the time in the world, so I decided to walk to the mall. Another couple of miles. Once there, I found the CD in Best Buy, for a good price. But I still had to get back home. I could have taken the bus, but that would have defeated the purpose of going to the mall to save money. So I walked home (flipping through the CD booklet on the way). It was a long walk, but it was a nice summer evening.
Anyway, that was a week ago, and now, a week later, I have listened to and reviewed the album.
"Here We Go Again" is Demi's #1 charting sophomore album. It is meant to be more a work of her own (as versuses her debut, which featured much input from the JoBros.)
The album opens with 4 songs about heartaches. All kinda sound similar, perhaps even too similar. The title track is included here, and it is a standout. The other pretty much retread (although "Solo" has a nifty pun, as in "so low.")
But, before I could write off the album, track five marked a turning point. "Quiet" is a schizo-pop arrangement of a song, and, especially the way Demi sings it, recalls Björk's "It's Oh So Quiet."
"Catch Me" could be "Don't Forget" redux, but also is a great example of both Demi's growth as a singer (she shows more control than on the latter), and also in style (this one is less Jonas-y, and is in fact written solely by Demi). With the string section, it is a beautiful number.
The next few songs are pretty good too. There is "Everytime You Lie" (a jazzy track), "Got Dynamite" (a fuzzy, slow rocker that many reviewers hail as a standout, but not my favorite), and "Stop The World" (with Nick Jonas, and it is too obviously Nick Jonas).
Demi's one collaboration with John Mayer that made the album is "World Of Chances." It has some of Mayer's signature guitar thrown in, plus some of Demi's prettiest, lightest vocals out of any track on here (making the lyrical themes of missed chances all the more tragic and subtle.)
"Remember December" is a great track, the combines a techno beat with a fast and crunchy rock arrangement. It shows offs, especially Demi's voice, and might be the most in your face, not too mention perhaps the album's best rocker.
The album closes with "Everything You're Not." In this song, Demi sings "All I want/ is everything you're not" to a boy. She has finally learned her lesson not to keep going back (like in the title track.) Unless she does wind up go go going back....
The album includes to bonus tracks. "Gift Of A Friend" is Demi's song for a Tinkerbell movie. It is characteristically a Disney ballad, and with its' celtic flavor, calls to mind Selena's Tinkerbell song, "Fly To Your Heart". Lastly, included is "So Far So Great", the "Sonny With A Chance" theme song. Sure, it is not as mature as the rest of the album. But after all the deeper emotions and teen-love angst and dramatics, it is nice to close with a cheery rocker.
The album jumps across many styles. But the arrangments still have similarities, which keeps the album from feeling unfocused. Instead, Demi shows how varied she can be, and more importantly, that she is capable of handling all these styles. Far from being a one trick pony.
Many reviews excitedly claim that this album is better than "Don't Forget." But I love "Don't Forget." I don't want to betray it. Besides, the two albums are very different. "Here We Go Again" is maturer, somewhat darker, and features more slow songs over rock cuts. And both are very good. I'd leave it at that.
Rumors of a future deluxe edition are out. Of course, Demi has three known songs she left off the album. "For The Love Of A Daughter" was originally on the album, but removed when Demi decided it was perhaps too mature a theme for her listeners. "Shut Up And Love Me" also intially made the album, but is now rumored to be saved for the deluxe edition. Either way, Demi has said it is one of her favorites.
There is also another John Mayer track, "Love Is The Answer," which may be another track for the deluxe edition.
Some good news to end this post! "Send It On," featuring Demi, Selena, Miley, and The Jonas Brothers, will premiere on Dsiney Channel on August 7th, and on iTunes August 11th.
And, of course, on Tuesday, the "Wizards Of Waverly Place" soundtrack comes out, featuring 3 new songs by Selena (along with the show's theme song.)
Friday, July 31, 2009
Party In The USA
So, Miley's new song "Party In The USA" has been confirmed as her next single. And it will be released on an exclusive Walmart EP (in conjunction with her MileyMax clothing line). The EP will be called "The Time Of Our Lives" (not "Voyage To India," as rumors erroneously stated). No tracklisting has been announced, but a release date of August 31st has been given.
There are no Walmarts in NYC. So I'm gonna have to take a busride to Nassau county to get the EP. What an adventure a simple task of buying an album can become.
Still to come is my review of "Here We Go Again" (as I've been too busy to actually listen to it.)
There are no Walmarts in NYC. So I'm gonna have to take a busride to Nassau county to get the EP. What an adventure a simple task of buying an album can become.
Still to come is my review of "Here We Go Again" (as I've been too busy to actually listen to it.)
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
What Goes On?
I wish I could give some great news today. Instead, all I have is great speculation and rumors. How exciting and mysterious!
First, Miley Cyrus. Yesterday, she was in the news for reportedly auditioning for Batgirl for the next installment of the current Batman franchise. But, Holy Hockeypads, there's more!
Today, a new song leaked. Titled "Party In The USA," it is obviously up for future release, as record labels had it pulled from youtube already. What the song is for is up in the air. Some say it will be used as a promotional tool behind Miley's Walmart-exclusive clothing line, perhaps as aprt of an EP. Others say it is from a new album. Miley herself twittered the other day that she recorded 3 songs in one day, and has apparently been working on music all summer, when not filming for the Last Song. Busy kid. Anyway, she seems to be working fast, and will probably have an album out soon. Perhaps it will come out before her tour? Or, like Demi, during her tour? It would be no surprise if Miley has eyes for an autumn release. She has enough time to promote it and such. And, like I said, she is already going to be a hot topic (I mean, even more so than usual) with her first tour in 2 years!
Okay, that aside, there are the Beatles.
Insider information says that "Now and Then," and 1979 demo by John, augmented by the rest of the Beatles in the nineties, is finished. More over, in someway, it, along with other rarities, will be released in conjuction with the Beatles downloadable catalogue. This has NOT been officially announced, but is rumored to be in the coming days or months. Songs rumored to be connected include "Granny Smith" (a non-Indian take 1 of "Love You To"), "Carnival Of Light" (the infamous sound-rave from '67), "Revolution 1" (the full 11 minutes, which has been leaked), and an instrumental "Doctor Robert" (yeah, I don't know either). I'd like to add to this rumor, with no source or backing, "What Goes On" as recorded solely by Paul.
I'm really excited about the future coming up. We also have Yoko's album, Selena's album (which is very close to getting a release date/press announcement), Emily Osment's album, Jennette McCurdy's album (my money is that it is finished, but Capitol is working on how to promote it, package it, etc), and a Miranda Cosgrove release (no word on her album, but she has done a song for the film "Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs", one of my favorite books as a kid.)
And who can forget Selena's 3 new tracks on the "Wizards Of Waverly Place" soundtrack?
Also, since earlier this year, the Rolling Stones re-issued all their post-Abcko studio albums. Except "Exile On Main Street." That album is up for deluxe treatment. What that entails is right now unknown. However, the album suffers from poor mixing (Mick Jagger mixed it after the produced got to involved in drugs to function, and Mick Jagger is not known for his mixing). The Stones have not done bonus tracks for any albums, so this deluxe package, no matter what is will be, is quite the anomaly.
I'm out of breath just thinking about all these rumors/future releases.
Next post should be a review of Demi's "Here We Go Again", plus my story of how I got it.
Holy Hockeypads!
First, Miley Cyrus. Yesterday, she was in the news for reportedly auditioning for Batgirl for the next installment of the current Batman franchise. But, Holy Hockeypads, there's more!
Today, a new song leaked. Titled "Party In The USA," it is obviously up for future release, as record labels had it pulled from youtube already. What the song is for is up in the air. Some say it will be used as a promotional tool behind Miley's Walmart-exclusive clothing line, perhaps as aprt of an EP. Others say it is from a new album. Miley herself twittered the other day that she recorded 3 songs in one day, and has apparently been working on music all summer, when not filming for the Last Song. Busy kid. Anyway, she seems to be working fast, and will probably have an album out soon. Perhaps it will come out before her tour? Or, like Demi, during her tour? It would be no surprise if Miley has eyes for an autumn release. She has enough time to promote it and such. And, like I said, she is already going to be a hot topic (I mean, even more so than usual) with her first tour in 2 years!
Okay, that aside, there are the Beatles.
Insider information says that "Now and Then," and 1979 demo by John, augmented by the rest of the Beatles in the nineties, is finished. More over, in someway, it, along with other rarities, will be released in conjuction with the Beatles downloadable catalogue. This has NOT been officially announced, but is rumored to be in the coming days or months. Songs rumored to be connected include "Granny Smith" (a non-Indian take 1 of "Love You To"), "Carnival Of Light" (the infamous sound-rave from '67), "Revolution 1" (the full 11 minutes, which has been leaked), and an instrumental "Doctor Robert" (yeah, I don't know either). I'd like to add to this rumor, with no source or backing, "What Goes On" as recorded solely by Paul.
I'm really excited about the future coming up. We also have Yoko's album, Selena's album (which is very close to getting a release date/press announcement), Emily Osment's album, Jennette McCurdy's album (my money is that it is finished, but Capitol is working on how to promote it, package it, etc), and a Miranda Cosgrove release (no word on her album, but she has done a song for the film "Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs", one of my favorite books as a kid.)
And who can forget Selena's 3 new tracks on the "Wizards Of Waverly Place" soundtrack?
Also, since earlier this year, the Rolling Stones re-issued all their post-Abcko studio albums. Except "Exile On Main Street." That album is up for deluxe treatment. What that entails is right now unknown. However, the album suffers from poor mixing (Mick Jagger mixed it after the produced got to involved in drugs to function, and Mick Jagger is not known for his mixing). The Stones have not done bonus tracks for any albums, so this deluxe package, no matter what is will be, is quite the anomaly.
I'm out of breath just thinking about all these rumors/future releases.
Next post should be a review of Demi's "Here We Go Again", plus my story of how I got it.
Holy Hockeypads!
Friday, July 10, 2009
Hannah Montana 3 "Could Be The One"
"Hannah Montana 3" came out last Tuesday. The album is the maturest Hannah release yet. It is still a slick slice of kid-friendly pop, by Miley's eternally young alter-ego. Miley herself is the performer here, and nothing more. Her blossoming writing talents are not on display here. It is her voice that she brings, and it is in full force, displaying an increase in strength, confidence, and control, compared to prior albums. And that is important, as the songs cover a wider range than just upbeat songs about secret identities and parties like the first Hannah disc was. We have plenty of songs dealing with love, from crushes to heartbreaks, along side the party numbers.
"Don't Wanna Be Torn" is a song about how love can come with tough decisions. To her acting credit, Miley pulls this one off as though she had penned it herself. "Just A Girl" is a slow number that feels like "The Climb," but not quite as strong. It is a good number all the same, however. "Ice Cream Freeze (Let's Chill)" is a dance number in the same vein as "Hoedown Throwdown," but is considerably less catchy. "Mixed Up" sounds similar to the song "I Learned From You" musically, but otherwise stands on its own, and is a another song about growing up that Miley injects her earnestness into.
Other standout tracks are "He Could Be The One," and "I Wanna Know You." "I Wanna Know You" foregos the usual guitar arrangment that most uptempo numbers use, instead backed by a brassy keyboard, and some really nifty backing vocals. It is about a boy who has great qualities, and now the singer wants to get closer to him. It is a really cool song, but does not warrant having to versions on this album. One is a solo version, the other is a duet with David Archuleta. Both are similar, but Archuleta adds some novelty, as well as nice harmonies, and as such, the duet would have been fine without a solo version.
Another duet featured is the new "If We Were A Movie," by Hannah and Corbin Bleu (actually used in season 2.) I have nothing against it, or Corbin Bleu, but if a guest singer is available, why not just do a new song? Nothing special is added to this song by making it a duet.
Also on the album are song by Mitchell Musso, and two songs already released on the "Hannah Montana The Movie" soundtrack.
Overall, the album is a real success for Hannah Montana. Songs that draw comparisons to movie tunes usually don't fare as well, but otherwise, the album is even better than the movie soundtrack. Still, there is too much filler. "Let's Do This" is one of my favorite Hannah songs, and "Let's Get Crazy" is another enjoyable number, but both were already on the movie disc. No need for two copies. The solo version of "I Wanna Know You," and the duet with Corbin also feel extraneous. Still, if this is the kind of stuff Hannah is doing, I can only imagine how great Miley's next album will be!
"Don't Wanna Be Torn" is a song about how love can come with tough decisions. To her acting credit, Miley pulls this one off as though she had penned it herself. "Just A Girl" is a slow number that feels like "The Climb," but not quite as strong. It is a good number all the same, however. "Ice Cream Freeze (Let's Chill)" is a dance number in the same vein as "Hoedown Throwdown," but is considerably less catchy. "Mixed Up" sounds similar to the song "I Learned From You" musically, but otherwise stands on its own, and is a another song about growing up that Miley injects her earnestness into.
Other standout tracks are "He Could Be The One," and "I Wanna Know You." "I Wanna Know You" foregos the usual guitar arrangment that most uptempo numbers use, instead backed by a brassy keyboard, and some really nifty backing vocals. It is about a boy who has great qualities, and now the singer wants to get closer to him. It is a really cool song, but does not warrant having to versions on this album. One is a solo version, the other is a duet with David Archuleta. Both are similar, but Archuleta adds some novelty, as well as nice harmonies, and as such, the duet would have been fine without a solo version.
Another duet featured is the new "If We Were A Movie," by Hannah and Corbin Bleu (actually used in season 2.) I have nothing against it, or Corbin Bleu, but if a guest singer is available, why not just do a new song? Nothing special is added to this song by making it a duet.
Also on the album are song by Mitchell Musso, and two songs already released on the "Hannah Montana The Movie" soundtrack.
Overall, the album is a real success for Hannah Montana. Songs that draw comparisons to movie tunes usually don't fare as well, but otherwise, the album is even better than the movie soundtrack. Still, there is too much filler. "Let's Do This" is one of my favorite Hannah songs, and "Let's Get Crazy" is another enjoyable number, but both were already on the movie disc. No need for two copies. The solo version of "I Wanna Know You," and the duet with Corbin also feel extraneous. Still, if this is the kind of stuff Hannah is doing, I can only imagine how great Miley's next album will be!
Monday, July 6, 2009
A Quick Update (While He's Away)
So, I plan to write a full blog post to review the "Hannah Montana 3" album that comes out tomorrow. In the meantime, I'd like to just mention that Jennette McCurdy's album has not come out yet (maybe August.) Also, the Klaus Voormann album "A Sideman's Journey," has been pushed back to July 17th according to the German amazon website. The American site says the 7th, but since it is a German import, the later date seems more likely. Either way, the album is coming out very soon.
By the way, I know it doesn't come out until January, but I'm started to get excited for "The Last Song," starring Miley. I'm curious to see how Miley's acting chops hold up outside the Hannah realm. If she doesn't make it there, I heard she is a pretty good singer too ;) (speaking of which, Miley has been in the studio lately, and I wonder if she is doing songs for the movie, or just for her own release.)
By the way, I know it doesn't come out until January, but I'm started to get excited for "The Last Song," starring Miley. I'm curious to see how Miley's acting chops hold up outside the Hannah realm. If she doesn't make it there, I heard she is a pretty good singer too ;) (speaking of which, Miley has been in the studio lately, and I wonder if she is doing songs for the movie, or just for her own release.)
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Stepping Up On My Soapbox
Last night, in that strange twilight hour, where you're not quite awake, but not yet asleep, I had a great I idea for a blog post. I was tempted to break out the laptop, but I could only imagine the grammitical errors I would have commited at 1 am. So, that anecdote aside, here goes that idea.
Miley Cyrus photo controversies. Quite a few of them, actually. Ranging from "private" photos being posted on the net, to magazine spreads in Vanity Fair. Everytime a new controversy crops up, talk of Miley's star fading, comparisions to Britney Spears (who somehow still performs and sells records, to her credit or her manager's), and Vegas odds to who will Disney choose to replace her (1:1000 that Disney will pull out of left field and reinstate Lindsay Lohan.)
But what do these controversies really boil down to? Why are they given such publicity? The way I see it, Miley (intentionally or not) is revealing a dark id of our society. A crooked lust that wants to tear away at something, and strip it down to its' most base. The younger, the more innocent, the more we as a culture want to watch that person devolve.
I am reminded of Yoko Ono's "Cut Piece." In it, Yoko sits on the floor, in a dress, and people come and cut pieces of it away. The point is that they would keep cutting and tearing away until all that was left was a stone, and then they would want to know what is going on inside that stone. It is us who wants to see another private photo. It is not Miley's fault for that. Her actions simply show our true character. My favorite example is when you type "Miley Cyrus" into google images. Many of the pictures are from some "scandalous" set. That means that these images of her are among the ones most sought after.
What is worse is that she is worshipped for this. Miley recieves tons of popularity boosts and the like from these scandals. Truth be told, it was hearing her name on E! every other night about the Vanity Fair issue that first got me into Miley (which led to reading about her via iTunes and wikipedia, then watching her live on FNMTV, and finally watching Hannah Montana, the last step of my initiation into fandom.)
What I'm trying to say is that we should not blame Miley for these scandals. After all, in a very subverted way, we just keep asking for more. That is, until she grows up, and then there will need to be a new star to exploit.
Although Miley is not completely off the hook. Given all the history with her and other celebs, she should have some pause before posting a picture. Still, the last picture I recall of her that was overtly sexual was her showing her bra, and some poses in her underwear, which by now date back well over a year. Since then, all the photos have been unfairly attributed some sort of sexual connotation, when in fact they are as innocent as wearing a bikini at the beach. (One of the worst was when she was jogging, and her bikini was showing, and it was so overblown that Miley publicly aired her complaints to how the situation was treated.)
Well, let me try and wrap this up. Basically, Miley is a reflection of ourselves, in two ways. One, Nobody's Perfect (that was too good not to use). We make mistakes, we post pictures we might regret ever taking. That is a great lesson, because I'm sure we have all done something we are now embarrassed by and regret. Got caught cheating in school? Hurt someone's feelings? They all end the same way. Apologize, and walk away having learned not to do such things again. The other reflection is not Miley, persay, but her public image, as described by the media. That is a negative point, that she is all about sex, and slutiness, and other things, because that just shows that someone who is those things is who we want to hear about. (Like I said, that is how Miley is portrayed, and is an unfortunate perversion of who she really is.)
Well, I'm done preaching for today. So, now I recommend you look up "Miley Cyrus Tybee Island" on youtube (or other flash video site) and watch a clip of her performing a brand new song (she pretty much wrote/finished that night) in a small resturaunt. It is a cool clip, and quite rare, as Miley is not a fan of small crowds. Being able to see everybody's face makes her more nervous than just playing for an unspecified ocean of fans. But I'm sure the people there that night apreciated it.
Miley Cyrus photo controversies. Quite a few of them, actually. Ranging from "private" photos being posted on the net, to magazine spreads in Vanity Fair. Everytime a new controversy crops up, talk of Miley's star fading, comparisions to Britney Spears (who somehow still performs and sells records, to her credit or her manager's), and Vegas odds to who will Disney choose to replace her (1:1000 that Disney will pull out of left field and reinstate Lindsay Lohan.)
But what do these controversies really boil down to? Why are they given such publicity? The way I see it, Miley (intentionally or not) is revealing a dark id of our society. A crooked lust that wants to tear away at something, and strip it down to its' most base. The younger, the more innocent, the more we as a culture want to watch that person devolve.
I am reminded of Yoko Ono's "Cut Piece." In it, Yoko sits on the floor, in a dress, and people come and cut pieces of it away. The point is that they would keep cutting and tearing away until all that was left was a stone, and then they would want to know what is going on inside that stone. It is us who wants to see another private photo. It is not Miley's fault for that. Her actions simply show our true character. My favorite example is when you type "Miley Cyrus" into google images. Many of the pictures are from some "scandalous" set. That means that these images of her are among the ones most sought after.
What is worse is that she is worshipped for this. Miley recieves tons of popularity boosts and the like from these scandals. Truth be told, it was hearing her name on E! every other night about the Vanity Fair issue that first got me into Miley (which led to reading about her via iTunes and wikipedia, then watching her live on FNMTV, and finally watching Hannah Montana, the last step of my initiation into fandom.)
What I'm trying to say is that we should not blame Miley for these scandals. After all, in a very subverted way, we just keep asking for more. That is, until she grows up, and then there will need to be a new star to exploit.
Although Miley is not completely off the hook. Given all the history with her and other celebs, she should have some pause before posting a picture. Still, the last picture I recall of her that was overtly sexual was her showing her bra, and some poses in her underwear, which by now date back well over a year. Since then, all the photos have been unfairly attributed some sort of sexual connotation, when in fact they are as innocent as wearing a bikini at the beach. (One of the worst was when she was jogging, and her bikini was showing, and it was so overblown that Miley publicly aired her complaints to how the situation was treated.)
Well, let me try and wrap this up. Basically, Miley is a reflection of ourselves, in two ways. One, Nobody's Perfect (that was too good not to use). We make mistakes, we post pictures we might regret ever taking. That is a great lesson, because I'm sure we have all done something we are now embarrassed by and regret. Got caught cheating in school? Hurt someone's feelings? They all end the same way. Apologize, and walk away having learned not to do such things again. The other reflection is not Miley, persay, but her public image, as described by the media. That is a negative point, that she is all about sex, and slutiness, and other things, because that just shows that someone who is those things is who we want to hear about. (Like I said, that is how Miley is portrayed, and is an unfortunate perversion of who she really is.)
Well, I'm done preaching for today. So, now I recommend you look up "Miley Cyrus Tybee Island" on youtube (or other flash video site) and watch a clip of her performing a brand new song (she pretty much wrote/finished that night) in a small resturaunt. It is a cool clip, and quite rare, as Miley is not a fan of small crowds. Being able to see everybody's face makes her more nervous than just playing for an unspecified ocean of fans. But I'm sure the people there that night apreciated it.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
"And You Wonder Why People Don't Worship Beauty"
So, I almost went a month without a new post.
First off, I posted a song a while back called "Love'n", proported to be a lost Beatles song. It is NOT actually the Beatles, but The Colours, a never-made-it sixties band, featuring Carl Radle on bass. The track, "Lovin", was on their Mickie Most produced LP. Someone edited the song to make the vocals (which would have made it obviously not the Beatles) near inaudible. I was kind of hoping it was the Beatles, but either way, it is a cool track.
Now, I mentioned a possible Paul McCartney box set, a new "Cold Cuts". Well, since then, tracklistings for 3 of 4 discs have been leaked. Each disc has 25 songs, plus a hidden track. Tracks are edited to fit all of them on a disc. For the full tracklists, check wogew.blogspot.com
Just about every unreleased gem we know about is featured, plus many more, including things we've never heard of before. The set is limited to studio work only, as another set of live material, as well as a set of demos, will be on horizon. Hints of a set actually date back to 2001, when Paul produced a documentary called "Wingspan." On a mini website dedicated to the film, a message said fans will be pleased with a new release coming soon. However, Paul got sidetracked, most likely with his new relationship with Heather Mills. But now, the set is back on track.
The set is a dream come true. Paul is releasing every track from the original "Cold Cuts" save for the instrumental "Tomorrow." And he is putting out thing that have never been booted, like "Crawl of The Wild," a "Venus & Mars" outtake featuring Dave Mason (who also played guitar on "Listen To What The Man Said.) "Crawl Of The Wild" has been renamed (or corrected to be) "Wild Cat." Paul has also opened the vault on the "London Town" sessions, from which we've had very little save for rough mixes and such.
There a few well known booted songs missing, like "Jazz Street", but the listing is nothing to complain about. One interesting note, though, is that, save for an early "Ram" version of the song "Sunshine Sometime," Paul has ignored his unreleased "Rupert The Bear" soundtrack. Paul did a soundtrack to his favorite childhood character, with instrumentals and some sung songs, along with some narration, and after years of coming back to it, recorded a full listing with Wings in '78. The project never materialized, but a few years later, Paul did make a short Rupert cartoon, which featured the song "We All Stand Together." I suspect Paul will release the Rupert song seperatly (well, I sure hope he does!)
Onto Jennette McCurdy, who has released another single. The song is a cover, called "Homeless Heart." Part of the proceeds of it go to charity. Like every other celeb, Jennette has not said anything about a release date for her album, and I'm beginning to doubt the rumoured "June 30th" date. In fact, Jennette is still hitting the recording studio (although she hasn't enlightened us as to whether she is still working on her first album, or starting another one.)
Along with Jennette, Miranda Cosgrove has been doing great on "iCarly." The show keeps getting high ratings, and deservingly so. It is consistently funny. Personally, I relate mostly to Spencer (being an artist myself, as well as a big brother, who one day will have to worry about a teenage sister.) But everyone is hysterical, and the development of different relationships and interactions with characters is great. I love when Freddie or Sam are alone with Spencer, with a dilema that Spencer tries to solve, like when Sam was having nightmares about a monster eating her soup. Spencer works so hard to help, like attempting to analyze Sam's dream, but in the end only causes more trouble, like after he dresses as a monster, and steals Sam's soup, to cure her, she beats him up, thinking he is a monster, and then Spencer has nightmares about monsters and soup. It is a clever set-up, and the actors pull it off convincinly and with personality that really sells the material.
Selena Gomez has a new release on Tuesday, a duet with the group "Forever The Sickest Kids." The single will be on iTunes (and maybe other d/l sites?) I'm looking forward to it.
Now, all these none of these celebs will give a release date, but Disney is different. On June 9th, Disney will release "Disney Channel Playlist," 15 songs from their TV shows and original TV movies. Of interest to me is "Everything Is Not What It Seems" (by Selena Gomez, it is the "Wizards Of Waverly Place" theme, "The Hero In Me" (by Emily Osment, from the movie "Dadnapped"), "So Far, So Great" (by Demi Lovato, it is the "Sonny With A Chance" theme), and "One And The Same" (a Demi and Selena duet from "Princess Protection Program.")
On July 14th, the "Hannah Montana 3" soundtrack will finally come out. It will feature 12 songs from season 3 (one of them by Mitchell Musson, the rest by Hannah Montana, including the duet with David Archuleta.) Track 13 is "If We Were A Movie" with Corbin Bleu, which was actually from season 2. It looks like another fun release, with song titles like "Ice Cream Freeze (Let's Chill)". Also, what is it with the word "Let's". "Let's Chill," "Let's Do This," "Let's Get Crazy," "Let's Dance."? Oh well, no matter. The titles are similar, but the songs are all different.
While Hannah is releasing a new disc, the real girl Miley doesn't seem to have a new disc on the near horizon. She will be filming "The Last Song," a film adaptation of a Nicholas Sparks novel. Rumors are also abound that Miley is wanted for the new "Footloose," although Miley has yet to say anything on that subject. Also, Miley will be touring again later this year, in Europe for sure, as she mentioned on her "Live In London" iTunes exclusive EP. Demi should have a "Live In London" EP coming out too. I wonder what is taking so long.
I can't say why people don't worship beauty. But what I can say is "The King Of Fuh" is a great song. By Brute Force, the song was presented to the Apple label, where George Harrison got a hold of it. Harrison loved it, mixed it a bit, and even had an orchestral arrangement added. The song talks about the King of Fuh, who is the "Fuh King." This line was too obscene to get a release, but George, as well as John Lennon, pushed for the song, which got a limited Apple release before being pulled. The song proved elusive after that, but Brute Force has since made it easily acquired on the album "Tour de Brute Force." It is such a beautiful song. I had wanted to hear it just to get a laugh from the lyrics, and while I did, the arrangement had such a sad, post-psychedelic beauty that enraptured me.
Happy Memorial Day weekend!
First off, I posted a song a while back called "Love'n", proported to be a lost Beatles song. It is NOT actually the Beatles, but The Colours, a never-made-it sixties band, featuring Carl Radle on bass. The track, "Lovin", was on their Mickie Most produced LP. Someone edited the song to make the vocals (which would have made it obviously not the Beatles) near inaudible. I was kind of hoping it was the Beatles, but either way, it is a cool track.
Now, I mentioned a possible Paul McCartney box set, a new "Cold Cuts". Well, since then, tracklistings for 3 of 4 discs have been leaked. Each disc has 25 songs, plus a hidden track. Tracks are edited to fit all of them on a disc. For the full tracklists, check wogew.blogspot.com
Just about every unreleased gem we know about is featured, plus many more, including things we've never heard of before. The set is limited to studio work only, as another set of live material, as well as a set of demos, will be on horizon. Hints of a set actually date back to 2001, when Paul produced a documentary called "Wingspan." On a mini website dedicated to the film, a message said fans will be pleased with a new release coming soon. However, Paul got sidetracked, most likely with his new relationship with Heather Mills. But now, the set is back on track.
The set is a dream come true. Paul is releasing every track from the original "Cold Cuts" save for the instrumental "Tomorrow." And he is putting out thing that have never been booted, like "Crawl of The Wild," a "Venus & Mars" outtake featuring Dave Mason (who also played guitar on "Listen To What The Man Said.) "Crawl Of The Wild" has been renamed (or corrected to be) "Wild Cat." Paul has also opened the vault on the "London Town" sessions, from which we've had very little save for rough mixes and such.
There a few well known booted songs missing, like "Jazz Street", but the listing is nothing to complain about. One interesting note, though, is that, save for an early "Ram" version of the song "Sunshine Sometime," Paul has ignored his unreleased "Rupert The Bear" soundtrack. Paul did a soundtrack to his favorite childhood character, with instrumentals and some sung songs, along with some narration, and after years of coming back to it, recorded a full listing with Wings in '78. The project never materialized, but a few years later, Paul did make a short Rupert cartoon, which featured the song "We All Stand Together." I suspect Paul will release the Rupert song seperatly (well, I sure hope he does!)
Onto Jennette McCurdy, who has released another single. The song is a cover, called "Homeless Heart." Part of the proceeds of it go to charity. Like every other celeb, Jennette has not said anything about a release date for her album, and I'm beginning to doubt the rumoured "June 30th" date. In fact, Jennette is still hitting the recording studio (although she hasn't enlightened us as to whether she is still working on her first album, or starting another one.)
Along with Jennette, Miranda Cosgrove has been doing great on "iCarly." The show keeps getting high ratings, and deservingly so. It is consistently funny. Personally, I relate mostly to Spencer (being an artist myself, as well as a big brother, who one day will have to worry about a teenage sister.) But everyone is hysterical, and the development of different relationships and interactions with characters is great. I love when Freddie or Sam are alone with Spencer, with a dilema that Spencer tries to solve, like when Sam was having nightmares about a monster eating her soup. Spencer works so hard to help, like attempting to analyze Sam's dream, but in the end only causes more trouble, like after he dresses as a monster, and steals Sam's soup, to cure her, she beats him up, thinking he is a monster, and then Spencer has nightmares about monsters and soup. It is a clever set-up, and the actors pull it off convincinly and with personality that really sells the material.
Selena Gomez has a new release on Tuesday, a duet with the group "Forever The Sickest Kids." The single will be on iTunes (and maybe other d/l sites?) I'm looking forward to it.
Now, all these none of these celebs will give a release date, but Disney is different. On June 9th, Disney will release "Disney Channel Playlist," 15 songs from their TV shows and original TV movies. Of interest to me is "Everything Is Not What It Seems" (by Selena Gomez, it is the "Wizards Of Waverly Place" theme, "The Hero In Me" (by Emily Osment, from the movie "Dadnapped"), "So Far, So Great" (by Demi Lovato, it is the "Sonny With A Chance" theme), and "One And The Same" (a Demi and Selena duet from "Princess Protection Program.")
On July 14th, the "Hannah Montana 3" soundtrack will finally come out. It will feature 12 songs from season 3 (one of them by Mitchell Musson, the rest by Hannah Montana, including the duet with David Archuleta.) Track 13 is "If We Were A Movie" with Corbin Bleu, which was actually from season 2. It looks like another fun release, with song titles like "Ice Cream Freeze (Let's Chill)". Also, what is it with the word "Let's". "Let's Chill," "Let's Do This," "Let's Get Crazy," "Let's Dance."? Oh well, no matter. The titles are similar, but the songs are all different.
While Hannah is releasing a new disc, the real girl Miley doesn't seem to have a new disc on the near horizon. She will be filming "The Last Song," a film adaptation of a Nicholas Sparks novel. Rumors are also abound that Miley is wanted for the new "Footloose," although Miley has yet to say anything on that subject. Also, Miley will be touring again later this year, in Europe for sure, as she mentioned on her "Live In London" iTunes exclusive EP. Demi should have a "Live In London" EP coming out too. I wonder what is taking so long.
I can't say why people don't worship beauty. But what I can say is "The King Of Fuh" is a great song. By Brute Force, the song was presented to the Apple label, where George Harrison got a hold of it. Harrison loved it, mixed it a bit, and even had an orchestral arrangement added. The song talks about the King of Fuh, who is the "Fuh King." This line was too obscene to get a release, but George, as well as John Lennon, pushed for the song, which got a limited Apple release before being pulled. The song proved elusive after that, but Brute Force has since made it easily acquired on the album "Tour de Brute Force." It is such a beautiful song. I had wanted to hear it just to get a laugh from the lyrics, and while I did, the arrangement had such a sad, post-psychedelic beauty that enraptured me.
Happy Memorial Day weekend!
Friday, May 1, 2009
Stella May Day
Well, I took to my blog last week complimenting and supporting Miley Cyrus after happening upon her Twitter comments @ Perez Hilton in regards to same-sex marriage and homosexuality. But now I feel even more compelled to soap-box it for a moment. Since Miley made her comments, she has been catching some negative responses from various organizations, who think Miley is "confused" and no longer a good influence. As I see it, Miley is the perfect scapegoat. Aside from the usual factor that she is so famous, and the easiest way to go through for publicity, she is not gay. Therefore, it comes off as less offensive to attack her. Had these organizations said nary a word against Perez Hilton, they would be in quite a stew.
It is not all bad news. Miley is going around the world, in promotion of her new movie. And, in an upcoming episode of "Hannah Montana," a duet between Hannah and American Idol runner-up (oh, I bet he wishes he could lose that epitaph) David Archuleta will be premiered (and on Radio Disney a day later.) I saw a clip of the two together on the show on youtube, and heard a bit of the song. Personally, I'm not a fan of Archuleta, but he does have a good voice, and I liked the duet. Hopefully, it will be on the long-delayed "Hannah Montana 3" soundtrack, which had been slated for January, but pushed back due to the movie soundtrack (and most confusingly, some season 3 songs were put on the movie soundtrack.)
Demi Lovato is busy to, doing some big concerts before her first headlining tour (with Archuleta as a supporting performer, by the way.) And, she has somehow managed to cut another album.. The girl works fast! She was already twittering to William Beckett of The Academy Is... that she is working on choosing a title (and may name the album after a song the two did together for it). She seems to be pretty confident on a July release, so, if that holds, I expect a single soon. I also learned that an International Edition of "Don't Forget" has been released, and carries an exclusive song, entitled "Back Around." It is a rock number that fits in with the rest of the albums heavier cuts.
Paul McCartney is very slowly popping up in the news in regards to a new album. A new album was hinted at when some reports claimed Paul and Ringo would play together on it, which would make it the first studio collaboration in over a decade. Now, it is said Paul has written a song about his girlfriend Nancy Shevall (who I think lives by my school, just to mention), and this song may appear on a new album. But before that, Paul appeared on a song "Boots And Sand", by Yusuf Islam (the artist formerly known as Cat Stevens.) Dolly Parton also appears on the song. Also, a deluxe edition of Paul's Fireman release "Electric Arguments" has been delayed since January, but finally, on the MPL website (MPL is McCartney's publishing company), short samples of new tracks are available. There will be seven new tracks. They are remixes of songs from the album, often with less instruments or no vocals. A track like this called "Sawain Ambient Accapella" has already been on iTunes. This song it the album track "Lifelong Passion" minus bass and drums.
All this is exciting, but I am left wondering about Paul's next classical album. In 2007, Paul had made a mention or two about a guitar concerto album. Nothing has developed since. Perhaps dealing with the divorce derailed the project a bit. The album would be a quite a departure from his other classical works, which have been very symphonic.
Emily Osment has gotten a Twitter (so you can stop follow all the fakes now.) Her address is Twitter.com/emilyosment.
Speaking of Twitter, Miranda Cosgrove tweeted something about putting together a final tracklist for her full-length debut. For a while now, fans have been able to hear a song named "Adored", which was briefly on Miranda's myspace (probably by accident.) It, along with the two new songs from Miranda's EP "About You Now", show great promise for her album.
On a personal note, I met Lady Gaga. Well, sort of. I was at a performance at her alma mater in Manhattan, where her sister attends. Her sister played the bongo for a rather dada-esque take on the "Ave Maria" (also played on violin and piano.) Lady Gaga was standing like two feet away from me at one point, taking pictures. However, I didn't even see her. In fact, I didn't know she was there. She chose not to stay for refreshments later on.
Also, the Virgin Megastore is closing its' doors soon. I'd go on a rant about the death of CD's and such, but rather than do that, I'll just say that I will miss the store and its' slightly overpriced merchandise (but I will be there when they start slashing prices! They only cut CD's by 20% for now, but they will probably go down more eventually.) Tower Records closed for good three years ago, and that was really sad for me. Borders Bookstores are eliminating their CD sections (and I managed to hit one having a 50% sale, and picked up Cream's "BBC Sessions" and McCartney's "Ecce Cor Meum" there.)
If you're wondering what today's blog title refers to, "Stella May Day" is a song Paul McCartney recorded for daughter Stella to use on the runway while presenting some clothes she designed, while she was still in school. The song is on bootlegs only, but it is a cool track.
It is not all bad news. Miley is going around the world, in promotion of her new movie. And, in an upcoming episode of "Hannah Montana," a duet between Hannah and American Idol runner-up (oh, I bet he wishes he could lose that epitaph) David Archuleta will be premiered (and on Radio Disney a day later.) I saw a clip of the two together on the show on youtube, and heard a bit of the song. Personally, I'm not a fan of Archuleta, but he does have a good voice, and I liked the duet. Hopefully, it will be on the long-delayed "Hannah Montana 3" soundtrack, which had been slated for January, but pushed back due to the movie soundtrack (and most confusingly, some season 3 songs were put on the movie soundtrack.)
Demi Lovato is busy to, doing some big concerts before her first headlining tour (with Archuleta as a supporting performer, by the way.) And, she has somehow managed to cut another album.. The girl works fast! She was already twittering to William Beckett of The Academy Is... that she is working on choosing a title (and may name the album after a song the two did together for it). She seems to be pretty confident on a July release, so, if that holds, I expect a single soon. I also learned that an International Edition of "Don't Forget" has been released, and carries an exclusive song, entitled "Back Around." It is a rock number that fits in with the rest of the albums heavier cuts.
Paul McCartney is very slowly popping up in the news in regards to a new album. A new album was hinted at when some reports claimed Paul and Ringo would play together on it, which would make it the first studio collaboration in over a decade. Now, it is said Paul has written a song about his girlfriend Nancy Shevall (who I think lives by my school, just to mention), and this song may appear on a new album. But before that, Paul appeared on a song "Boots And Sand", by Yusuf Islam (the artist formerly known as Cat Stevens.) Dolly Parton also appears on the song. Also, a deluxe edition of Paul's Fireman release "Electric Arguments" has been delayed since January, but finally, on the MPL website (MPL is McCartney's publishing company), short samples of new tracks are available. There will be seven new tracks. They are remixes of songs from the album, often with less instruments or no vocals. A track like this called "Sawain Ambient Accapella" has already been on iTunes. This song it the album track "Lifelong Passion" minus bass and drums.
All this is exciting, but I am left wondering about Paul's next classical album. In 2007, Paul had made a mention or two about a guitar concerto album. Nothing has developed since. Perhaps dealing with the divorce derailed the project a bit. The album would be a quite a departure from his other classical works, which have been very symphonic.
Emily Osment has gotten a Twitter (so you can stop follow all the fakes now.) Her address is Twitter.com/emilyosment.
Speaking of Twitter, Miranda Cosgrove tweeted something about putting together a final tracklist for her full-length debut. For a while now, fans have been able to hear a song named "Adored", which was briefly on Miranda's myspace (probably by accident.) It, along with the two new songs from Miranda's EP "About You Now", show great promise for her album.
On a personal note, I met Lady Gaga. Well, sort of. I was at a performance at her alma mater in Manhattan, where her sister attends. Her sister played the bongo for a rather dada-esque take on the "Ave Maria" (also played on violin and piano.) Lady Gaga was standing like two feet away from me at one point, taking pictures. However, I didn't even see her. In fact, I didn't know she was there. She chose not to stay for refreshments later on.
Also, the Virgin Megastore is closing its' doors soon. I'd go on a rant about the death of CD's and such, but rather than do that, I'll just say that I will miss the store and its' slightly overpriced merchandise (but I will be there when they start slashing prices! They only cut CD's by 20% for now, but they will probably go down more eventually.) Tower Records closed for good three years ago, and that was really sad for me. Borders Bookstores are eliminating their CD sections (and I managed to hit one having a 50% sale, and picked up Cream's "BBC Sessions" and McCartney's "Ecce Cor Meum" there.)
If you're wondering what today's blog title refers to, "Stella May Day" is a song Paul McCartney recorded for daughter Stella to use on the runway while presenting some clothes she designed, while she was still in school. The song is on bootlegs only, but it is a cool track.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
The Whole World Is Just One Big Love-In (And That Is Just Fine)
So, the theme of this post is Love. No particular reason, but it felt right, so I'll go with it.
First off, here is a link to a song called "Love'n"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gx9pWgN0g2c
The song is credited to The Beatles. It may very well be a fake, but no one knows for sure at the moment. It is also listed as an early version of "Getting Better". This could be the Rutles for all we know, but I figured I'd share it anyway.
So, love. Everyone should love. Miley Cyrus has publically stated (perhaps somewhat unintentionally?) that she supports gay relationships, via Twitter comments @ Perez Hilton. "jesus loves you AND your partner and wants you to know how much he cares!" This is came about after Hilton asked Miss California er posistion on gay marriage, to which she gave her "biblically" inspired negative response. It is interesting, because Miley is a Christian and very devouted to the Bible. I for one am glad that Miley is displaying to people a sense of openess and acceptance ('specially to fans who are either gay and perhaps forced into a corner of shame, or those who make them feel that shame.) If only this feeling of love could be embraced by our whole world.
Miley's twitter is found here:
http://twitter.com/mileycyrus
Following that, I must say Twitter is perhaps the coolest of all the internet crazes as far as following celebs is concerned. It only takes second to update, meaning even the busiest celeb can update often. There is no html coding or wierd things like that. Myspace and Facebook and Xanga (not that any celeb I know of ever did Xanga) took investments of time, and often become more like giant internet advertisements for celebs, which is kind of a waste since celebs can do the same with there own website.
At the same time, Twitter (and for that matter Facebook status) can become kind of creepy and stalkerish. Sometimes.
But, getting back to love, Paul McCartney got lots of love from indie fans at the Coachella festival. Also, McCartney showed love for The Fireman, his side project, which released a new album last November, by doing two Fireman songs live, the first time he ever did so. Paul performed "Sing The Changes" (the proper single, and one of my favorite new Fireman songs), and "Highway" (one of my least favorites.) Also, on the big screen behind Paul, footage from the Beatles Rock Band was shown. The game comes out September 9th, the same day as the remaster discography of the Beatles. Dhani Harrison (son of George Harrison) says the game will feature previously unheard material.
I don't even know what love has to do with this, but in a seperate interview, Dhani Harrison talked about working on a box set of unreleased George Harrison material. The idea of this set is nothing new, going all the way back to when Harrison was alive. Dhani wants to get the set out, and thinks the material he would release is better than the bootlegs fans have of George outtakes (and George outtakes are somewhat slim, and often instrumental versions or rough mixes of songs, stuff that is often boring and similar to commercial material). Dhani is cheesed off at EMI, which instead of putting out the set, or even finishing the remaster series, is putting out a lame greatest hits. So sad.
Oh, just for kicks, here are some more Twitters:
http://twitter.com/MirandaBuzz - Miranda Cosgrove
http://twitter.com/jennettemccurdy - Jennette McCurdy
http://twitter.com/selenagomez - Selena Gomez
http://twitter.com/ddlovato - Demi Lovato
First off, here is a link to a song called "Love'n"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gx9pWgN0g2c
The song is credited to The Beatles. It may very well be a fake, but no one knows for sure at the moment. It is also listed as an early version of "Getting Better". This could be the Rutles for all we know, but I figured I'd share it anyway.
So, love. Everyone should love. Miley Cyrus has publically stated (perhaps somewhat unintentionally?) that she supports gay relationships, via Twitter comments @ Perez Hilton. "jesus loves you AND your partner and wants you to know how much he cares!" This is came about after Hilton asked Miss California er posistion on gay marriage, to which she gave her "biblically" inspired negative response. It is interesting, because Miley is a Christian and very devouted to the Bible. I for one am glad that Miley is displaying to people a sense of openess and acceptance ('specially to fans who are either gay and perhaps forced into a corner of shame, or those who make them feel that shame.) If only this feeling of love could be embraced by our whole world.
Miley's twitter is found here:
http://twitter.com/mileycyrus
Following that, I must say Twitter is perhaps the coolest of all the internet crazes as far as following celebs is concerned. It only takes second to update, meaning even the busiest celeb can update often. There is no html coding or wierd things like that. Myspace and Facebook and Xanga (not that any celeb I know of ever did Xanga) took investments of time, and often become more like giant internet advertisements for celebs, which is kind of a waste since celebs can do the same with there own website.
At the same time, Twitter (and for that matter Facebook status) can become kind of creepy and stalkerish. Sometimes.
But, getting back to love, Paul McCartney got lots of love from indie fans at the Coachella festival. Also, McCartney showed love for The Fireman, his side project, which released a new album last November, by doing two Fireman songs live, the first time he ever did so. Paul performed "Sing The Changes" (the proper single, and one of my favorite new Fireman songs), and "Highway" (one of my least favorites.) Also, on the big screen behind Paul, footage from the Beatles Rock Band was shown. The game comes out September 9th, the same day as the remaster discography of the Beatles. Dhani Harrison (son of George Harrison) says the game will feature previously unheard material.
I don't even know what love has to do with this, but in a seperate interview, Dhani Harrison talked about working on a box set of unreleased George Harrison material. The idea of this set is nothing new, going all the way back to when Harrison was alive. Dhani wants to get the set out, and thinks the material he would release is better than the bootlegs fans have of George outtakes (and George outtakes are somewhat slim, and often instrumental versions or rough mixes of songs, stuff that is often boring and similar to commercial material). Dhani is cheesed off at EMI, which instead of putting out the set, or even finishing the remaster series, is putting out a lame greatest hits. So sad.
Oh, just for kicks, here are some more Twitters:
http://twitter.com/MirandaBuzz - Miranda Cosgrove
http://twitter.com/jennettemccurdy - Jennette McCurdy
http://twitter.com/selenagomez - Selena Gomez
http://twitter.com/ddlovato - Demi Lovato
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
News Of The Day
So, let's start off with some news bites.
Jennette McCurdy has written, or "twittered", if you will, that her debut album (still unfinished) may be hitting shelves June 30th.
Demi Lovato is going on tour, and David Archuleta will be the opening act. She also has done a song with Academy Is member William Beckett.
Paul McCartney has a few interesting bits. He may be doing some Fireman tracks live at the Coachella Festival (he has never done a Fireman song on stage before, and was originally going to do so last year on TV, but had to cancel in order to do his show in Israel.) Paul is also supposedly doing a new album, and has as many as 20 new songs already. Ringo is rumored to be involved. Paul may be considering a fall release date, to coincide with The Beatle Remasters. There are also rumors of a box-set of outtakes and such. Such rumors have persisted since the phrase "box-set" was coined, but with Paul's 40th anniversary as a solo artist approaching, it may finally be time (maybe.)
George Harrison has a new greatest hits package, which is cool for those who know little about him, but annoying to big fans who still await remasters of "Dark Horse" and "Extra Texture," not to mention a box-set of unreleased cuts.
"Hannah Montana The Movie" broke some records, and is estimated to make a bajillion dollars (okay, real numbers are much more modest than that.) I hope to see the film soon.
The Beatles remasters have conjured up rumors that the DVD accompanying the new discs will feature the acoustic "Love You To," an instrumental "Doctor Robert," and even a brand new, 10 minute remix of "Carnival Of Light." My bet is that take 20 of "Revolution 1" will also be included, seeing as EMI practically burst an artery when the song was leaked.
I am very excited about all these new projects and releases. I have long awaited Beatle remasters, and if the rumours of new songs being included are true, I all the more anxiously await September 9th (note 9/09/09 is the release date. Number 9, Number 9, Number 9...)
Jennette McCurdy's album also has me waiting. It will be the next new album to come out that I look forward too, and will be a great way to kick off the summer (and Jennette's 16th birthday is in late June, so it will be really cool for her to have her first disc out and all.)
I'm glad Demi is working on a new album, and can't wait to hear more about it. The only real items we know are that the guy from Academy Is... did a song with her, and that Demi likens her new direction more to "Behind Enemy Lines" than her previous work. (By the way, in film footage on the DVD, Demi is seen holding a 12 track CD of a rough "Don't Forget," meaning "Behind Enemy Lines" was at least considered to make the disc. I guess they originally cut it since it wasn't like the rest of the songs, but thought as a bonus track, that wouldn't matter.)
McCartney's stuff is always great, so I can't wait for more info on his projects. No one has reported any specifics on his new album, and I suspect Paul will keep the album under wraps until he has a release date. As for the box-set, Paul has been trying to do an outtakes album since "Hot Hits/Cold Cuts." The album was to be a double set featuring a disc of hits, and a disc of outtakes spanning from "Ram" up to "Back To The Egg". Paul decided just to release a hits disc, called "Wings Greatest." He worked on "Cold Cuts" up into the eighties, remixing and overdubbing, before giving up. Many songs from the proposed track list have since gotten out.
Jennette McCurdy has written, or "twittered", if you will, that her debut album (still unfinished) may be hitting shelves June 30th.
Demi Lovato is going on tour, and David Archuleta will be the opening act. She also has done a song with Academy Is member William Beckett.
Paul McCartney has a few interesting bits. He may be doing some Fireman tracks live at the Coachella Festival (he has never done a Fireman song on stage before, and was originally going to do so last year on TV, but had to cancel in order to do his show in Israel.) Paul is also supposedly doing a new album, and has as many as 20 new songs already. Ringo is rumored to be involved. Paul may be considering a fall release date, to coincide with The Beatle Remasters. There are also rumors of a box-set of outtakes and such. Such rumors have persisted since the phrase "box-set" was coined, but with Paul's 40th anniversary as a solo artist approaching, it may finally be time (maybe.)
George Harrison has a new greatest hits package, which is cool for those who know little about him, but annoying to big fans who still await remasters of "Dark Horse" and "Extra Texture," not to mention a box-set of unreleased cuts.
"Hannah Montana The Movie" broke some records, and is estimated to make a bajillion dollars (okay, real numbers are much more modest than that.) I hope to see the film soon.
The Beatles remasters have conjured up rumors that the DVD accompanying the new discs will feature the acoustic "Love You To," an instrumental "Doctor Robert," and even a brand new, 10 minute remix of "Carnival Of Light." My bet is that take 20 of "Revolution 1" will also be included, seeing as EMI practically burst an artery when the song was leaked.
I am very excited about all these new projects and releases. I have long awaited Beatle remasters, and if the rumours of new songs being included are true, I all the more anxiously await September 9th (note 9/09/09 is the release date. Number 9, Number 9, Number 9...)
Jennette McCurdy's album also has me waiting. It will be the next new album to come out that I look forward too, and will be a great way to kick off the summer (and Jennette's 16th birthday is in late June, so it will be really cool for her to have her first disc out and all.)
I'm glad Demi is working on a new album, and can't wait to hear more about it. The only real items we know are that the guy from Academy Is... did a song with her, and that Demi likens her new direction more to "Behind Enemy Lines" than her previous work. (By the way, in film footage on the DVD, Demi is seen holding a 12 track CD of a rough "Don't Forget," meaning "Behind Enemy Lines" was at least considered to make the disc. I guess they originally cut it since it wasn't like the rest of the songs, but thought as a bonus track, that wouldn't matter.)
McCartney's stuff is always great, so I can't wait for more info on his projects. No one has reported any specifics on his new album, and I suspect Paul will keep the album under wraps until he has a release date. As for the box-set, Paul has been trying to do an outtakes album since "Hot Hits/Cold Cuts." The album was to be a double set featuring a disc of hits, and a disc of outtakes spanning from "Ram" up to "Back To The Egg". Paul decided just to release a hits disc, called "Wings Greatest." He worked on "Cold Cuts" up into the eighties, remixing and overdubbing, before giving up. Many songs from the proposed track list have since gotten out.
- "A Love For You"- saw release in 2003 on the "In Laws" soundtrack. First done during "Ram"
- "Lunch Box/Odd Sox" - B-side of "Coming Up". Recorded during "Venus & Mars"
- "My Carnival" - b-side of "Spies Like Us" (also made into a "Party Mix.") Recorded during "Venus & Mars."
- "Hey Diddle" - released version from a home tape on "Wingspan." Studio version first done during "Ram," later worked on in 1974 Nashville, sort of early "Venus & Mars" sessions
- "Mama's Little Girl" - released on "Put It There" single. From "Red Rose Speedway" sessions
- "Same Time Next Year" - released on "Put It There" single. From "Back To The Egg" sessions, done for a film of the same name.
- "Wide Prairie" - a portion released on Linda's "Wide Prairie" album. Done after "Band On The Run" sessions
- "I Would Only Smile" - Denny Laine cut released on his album "Japanese Tears." Done during "Red Rose Speedway" sessions
- "Send Me The Heart" - Denny Laine and Paul duet released on his album "Japanese Tears." Done during 1974 Nashville sessions
- "Oriental Nightfish" - Linda McCartney song first released in a music video, later on "Wide Prairie." From "Band On The Run" sessions.
But, there are many songs still unreleased from this collection.
- "Tragedy" - a cover song from "Red Rose Speedway" sessions.
- "Night Out" - from "Red Rose Speedway" sessions
- "Tomorrow" - this song was released on "Wild Life", but during "Venus and Mars" sessions, Paul did an instrumental version
- "Proud Mum" - an instrumental from Nashville (plus a short reprise version)
- "Did We Meet Somewhere Before?" - from "Back To The Egg" sessions, and a small portion was played in the film "Rock & Roll High School" but otherwise unreleased
- "Best Friend" - a concert song from 1972, with studio overdubs (like the song "The Mess")
- "Robber's Ball" - an outtake from "McCartney II"
- "Cage" - a "Back To The Egg" song originally slated to be on that album, before cut in favor of the similar "Baby's Request"
- "Waterspout" - a pre-"London Town" home studio recording
These songs have been overdubbed and remixed and many have new lead vocals from Paul done in the eighties. But a new box-set would feature much more, and will hopefull cover Paul from his early years up to the present.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Hannah Montana The Movie Soundtrack
Well, we are almost ready for my (belated) review of the "Hannah Montana The Movie" soundtrack.
But first, I want to talk about E!'s new documentary, cleverly titled "Miley Cyrus." It premiered yesterday, and covers Miley's life from her birth up through last week at the premiere of the "Hannah Montana" feature film. It is a breif overview of Miley's life, but it is not told only from her perspective. Parents Billy Ray and Tish, sisters Brandi and Noah, friends Mandy and Leslie, former cheerleading coach Chastity, and others get as much say as Miley as they weigh in on the star's life. There is nothing new said in this doc, but hearing Miley and her closest companions narrate this life while images and film clips illustrate proves much more fun than reading Miley's wikipedia page. Of course, in an hour, only so much can be said, and there are many subjects (like getting bullied) that are only hinted at, and Miley's book provides the best source to fill and and look more in depth at these topics.
But, that all aside, let's get to my album review.
After "Breakout," I think it was finally realized that the music of Miley and the music of Hannah are two seperate things. Hannah songs are written by Disney songwriters, and require a fairly generic pop vocalist. Miley sure sings them well, but her own material comes from her creativity, and is written to go with her vocal range, as she sounds her best when singing in a key or so lower than her blonde counterpart. So, the 7 Hannah songs on this disc were fairly unsurprising and, in context of all the Hannah songs, sort of bland. "Let's Do This" was one of the best. Hannah vocalizes the melody for this upbeat song. It's a fun number, very happy (like all Hannah songs) but it just works better. "You'll Always Find Your Way Back Home" is co-written by Taylor Swift, and is probably the deepest Hannah song there is. "Spotlight" is a jumpy one, with rock instruments, and cool changes. The rest are either not memorable enough, or even a bit disapointing (well, "Best Of Both Worlds 2009 Mix" is cool, a rockier update of the song, but not that different, although the few changes are welcome.)
There are 5 Miley songs on the album, but she only wrote one, and they are otherwise written by Disney writers, so they start to fall into more of a grey area. "Don't Walk Away" was leaked last summer as a "Breakout" outtake, and it is cool, but lacks a hook, and has annoying "crowd" shouts. "Hoedown Throwdown" has that cheap crowd too, but that is the only detriment of the song. It is otherwise a fun novelty number, Miley's first song to really own a dance floor. "Dream" is low key and forgettable. "The Climb" is a big hit, and understandably so. It is the type of pop-ballad that has been missing from Cyrus's eclectic discography. Her vocals are powerful, and she totally owns the song. (btw, there are three versions, the album cut, the piano intro, and the guitar intro. The last two are promo only numbers, and feature country instruments.)
"Butterfly Fly Away" is a beautiful, if not the most beautiful, duet between Miley and her father. It is a bit bittersweet, because Miley will have to "fly away" from her father, but at the same time, I can't imagine such a family oriented person ever really leaving. Still, the song is so sweet. But...
... The best version is NOT on "Hannah Montana The Movie" soundtrack. That version has only strings and guitars, and Miley is the only lead vocalist. Billy Ray does harmonies, but otherwise has no solo spot. On his album "Back To Tennessee" is a longer version. This one has drums, electric guitars, and Billy Ray taking the spotlight for a verse or two. It feels like a more finished version of the song, and I prefer it.
The rest of the album is good fare. Not my cup of tea, but good for a spin or two. Taylor Swift, Rascal Flatts, a solo Billy Ray song, all playing into the country theme.
Overall, I've learned to expect more from Miley, and aside from a few numbers, she falls a bit short. I'm sure her next solo affair will prove what she can really muster.
But first, I want to talk about E!'s new documentary, cleverly titled "Miley Cyrus." It premiered yesterday, and covers Miley's life from her birth up through last week at the premiere of the "Hannah Montana" feature film. It is a breif overview of Miley's life, but it is not told only from her perspective. Parents Billy Ray and Tish, sisters Brandi and Noah, friends Mandy and Leslie, former cheerleading coach Chastity, and others get as much say as Miley as they weigh in on the star's life. There is nothing new said in this doc, but hearing Miley and her closest companions narrate this life while images and film clips illustrate proves much more fun than reading Miley's wikipedia page. Of course, in an hour, only so much can be said, and there are many subjects (like getting bullied) that are only hinted at, and Miley's book provides the best source to fill and and look more in depth at these topics.
But, that all aside, let's get to my album review.
After "Breakout," I think it was finally realized that the music of Miley and the music of Hannah are two seperate things. Hannah songs are written by Disney songwriters, and require a fairly generic pop vocalist. Miley sure sings them well, but her own material comes from her creativity, and is written to go with her vocal range, as she sounds her best when singing in a key or so lower than her blonde counterpart. So, the 7 Hannah songs on this disc were fairly unsurprising and, in context of all the Hannah songs, sort of bland. "Let's Do This" was one of the best. Hannah vocalizes the melody for this upbeat song. It's a fun number, very happy (like all Hannah songs) but it just works better. "You'll Always Find Your Way Back Home" is co-written by Taylor Swift, and is probably the deepest Hannah song there is. "Spotlight" is a jumpy one, with rock instruments, and cool changes. The rest are either not memorable enough, or even a bit disapointing (well, "Best Of Both Worlds 2009 Mix" is cool, a rockier update of the song, but not that different, although the few changes are welcome.)
There are 5 Miley songs on the album, but she only wrote one, and they are otherwise written by Disney writers, so they start to fall into more of a grey area. "Don't Walk Away" was leaked last summer as a "Breakout" outtake, and it is cool, but lacks a hook, and has annoying "crowd" shouts. "Hoedown Throwdown" has that cheap crowd too, but that is the only detriment of the song. It is otherwise a fun novelty number, Miley's first song to really own a dance floor. "Dream" is low key and forgettable. "The Climb" is a big hit, and understandably so. It is the type of pop-ballad that has been missing from Cyrus's eclectic discography. Her vocals are powerful, and she totally owns the song. (btw, there are three versions, the album cut, the piano intro, and the guitar intro. The last two are promo only numbers, and feature country instruments.)
"Butterfly Fly Away" is a beautiful, if not the most beautiful, duet between Miley and her father. It is a bit bittersweet, because Miley will have to "fly away" from her father, but at the same time, I can't imagine such a family oriented person ever really leaving. Still, the song is so sweet. But...
... The best version is NOT on "Hannah Montana The Movie" soundtrack. That version has only strings and guitars, and Miley is the only lead vocalist. Billy Ray does harmonies, but otherwise has no solo spot. On his album "Back To Tennessee" is a longer version. This one has drums, electric guitars, and Billy Ray taking the spotlight for a verse or two. It feels like a more finished version of the song, and I prefer it.
The rest of the album is good fare. Not my cup of tea, but good for a spin or two. Taylor Swift, Rascal Flatts, a solo Billy Ray song, all playing into the country theme.
Overall, I've learned to expect more from Miley, and aside from a few numbers, she falls a bit short. I'm sure her next solo affair will prove what she can really muster.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Things I Like
So, some things that I like are happening.
First off, check this link:
http://www.contactmusic.com/news.nsf/article/cyrus%20records%20imagine_1099984
Not only has Miley apparently recorded "Imagine," John Lennon's classic song from his sixth LP (2nd not counting collabs with Yoko), but it is also supposedly a duet with Emily Osment.
Each of these things would be good enough on their own, but together? Well, my head would have exploded from the excitement (please please please tell me this track will be released), but chunks of head matter had already been strewn all over my computer, because the Beatles are finally, after 22 years of sitting on them, are giving us remastered albums.
Here is the news, compiled from articles from http://thebeatles.com/core/home/
"Each of the CDs is packaged with replicated original UK album art, including expanded booklets containing original and newly written liner notes and rare photos. For a limited period, each CD will also be embedded with a brief documentary film about the album. On the same date, two new Beatles boxed CD collections will also be released. The albums have been re-mastered by a dedicated team of engineers at EMI’s Abbey Road Studios in London over a four year period utilising state of the art recording technology alongside vintage studio equipment, carefully maintaining the authenticity and integrity of the original analogue recordings. The result of this painstaking process is the highest fidelity the catalogue has seen since its original release. The collection comprises all 12 Beatles albums in stereo, with track listings and artwork as originally released in the UK, and ‘Magical Mystery Tour,’ which became part of The Beatles’ core catalogue when the CDs were first released in 1987. In addition, the collections ‘Past Masters Vol. I and II’ are now combined as one title, for a total of 14 titles over 16 discs. This will mark the first time that the first four Beatles albums will be available in stereo in their entirety on compact disc. These 14 albums, along with a DVD collection of the documentaries, will also be available for purchase together in a stereo boxed set. Within each CD’s new packaging, booklets include detailed historical notes along with informative recording notes. With the exception of the ‘Past Masters’ set, newly produced mini-documentaries on the making of each album, directed by Bob Smeaton, are included as QuickTime files on each album. The documentaries contain archival footage, rare photographs and never-before-heard studio chat from The Beatles, offering a unique and very personal insight into the studio atmosphere. A second boxed set has been created with the collector in mind. ‘The Beatles in Mono’ gathers together, in one place, all of the Beatles recordings that were mixed for a mono release. It will contain 10 of the albums with their original mono mixes, plus two further discs of mono masters (covering similar ground to the stereo tracks on ‘Past Masters’). As an added bonus, the mono “Help!” and “Rubber Soul” discs also include the original 1965 stereo mixes, which have not been previously released on CD. These albums will be packaged in mini-vinyl CD replicas of the original sleeves with all original inserts and label designs retained. For the latest news and information, go to: The Beatles Official Website Additional information: The Stereo Albums (available individually and collected in a stereo boxed set) The stereo albums have been remastered by Guy Massey, Steve Rooke, Sam Okell with Paul Hicks and Sean Magee All CD packages contain original vinyl artwork and liner notes Extensive archival photos Additional historical notes by Kevin Howlett and Mike Heatley Additional recording notes by Allan Rouse and Kevin Howlett * = CD includes QuickTime mini-doc about the album Please Please Me* (CD debut in stereo) With The Beatles* (CD debut in stereo) A Hard Day’s Night* (CD debut in stereo) Beatles For Sale* (CD debut in stereo) Help!* Rubber Soul* Revolver* Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band* (also includes 1987 notes, updated, and new intro by Paul McCartney) Magical Mystery Tour* The Beatles* Yellow Submarine* (also includes original US liner notes) Abbey Road* Let It Be* Past Masters (contains new liner notes written by Kevin Howlett) ‘The Beatles in Mono’ (boxed set only) The mono albums have been remastered by Paul Hicks, Sean Magee with Guy Massey and Steve Rooke Presented together in box with an essay written by Kevin Howlett + = mono mix CD debut Please Please Me With The Beatles A Hard Day’s Night Beatles For Sale Help! (CD also includes original 1965 stereo mix)+ Rubber Soul (CD also include original 1965 stereo mix)+ Revolver+ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band+ Magical Mystery Tour+ The Beatles+ Mono Masters Re-mastering the Beatles catalogue The re-mastering process commenced with an extensive period conducting tests before finally copying the analogue master tapes into the digital medium. When this was completed, the transfer was achieved using a Pro Tools workstation operating at 24 bit 192 kHz resolution via a Prism A-D converter. Transferring was a lengthy procedure done a track at a time. Although EMI tape does not suffer the oxide loss associated with some later analogue tapes, there was nevertheless a slight build up of dust, which was removed from the tape machine heads between each title. From the onset, considerable thought was given to what audio restorative processes were going to be allowed. It was agreed that electrical clicks, microphone vocal pops, excessive sibilance and bad edits should be improved where possible, so long as it didn’t impact on the original integrity of the songs. In addition, de-noising technology, which is often associated with re-mastering, was to be used, but subtly and sparingly. Eventually, less than five of the 525 minutes of Beatles music was subjected to this process. Finally, as is common with today’s music, overall limiting - to increase the volume level of the CD - has been used, but on the stereo versions only. However, it was unanimously agreed that because of the importance of The Beatles’ music, limiting would be used moderately, so as to retain the original dynamics of the recordings. When all of the albums had been transferred, each song was then listened to several times to locate any of the agreed imperfections. These were then addressed by Guy Massey, working with Audio Restoration engineer Simon Gibson. Mastering could now take place, once the earliest vinyl pressings, along with the existing CDs, were loaded into Pro Tools, thus allowing comparisons to be made with the original master tapes during the equalization process. When an album had been completed, it was auditioned the next day in studio three – a room familiar to the engineers, as all of the recent Beatles mixing projects had taken place in there – and any further alteration of EQ could be addressed back in the mastering room. Following the initial satisfaction of Guy and Steve, Allan Rouse and Mike Heatley then checked each new re-master in yet another location and offered any further suggestions. This continued until all 13 albums were completed to the team’s satisfaction. New Notes/Documentaries Team Kevin Howlett (Historical and Recording Notes) Kevin Howlett’s career as an award-winning radio producer spans three decades. His music programmes for the BBC have included many documentaries about The Beatles, including ‘The Beeb’s Lost Beatles Tapes.’ He received a Grammy nomination for his involvement with The Beatles’ album ‘Live At The BBC’ and, in 2003, produced the ‘Fly On The Wall’ bonus disc for ‘Let It Be… Naked.’ Mike Heatley (Historical Notes) Mike entered the music business via HMV Record Stores in 1970, transferring to EMI Records’ International Division three years later. He eventually headed up that division in the early Eighties before joining the company’s newly created Strategic Marketing Division in 1984. In 1988, he returned to International, where he undertook a number of catalogue marketing roles until he retired in December 2008. During his career he worked with many of EMI’s major artists, including Pink Floyd, Queen, Kate Bush and Iron Maiden. However, during the last 30 years he has formed a particularly strong relationship with Apple, and has been closely involved in the origination and promotion of the Beatles catalogue, besides solo releases from John, Paul, George and Ringo. Bob Smeaton (Director, Mini-Documentaries) Bob Smeaton was series director and writer on the Grammy award winning ‘Beatles Anthology’ TV series which aired in the UK and the USA in 1995. In 1998 he received his second Grammy for his ‘Jimi Hendrix: Band of Gypsys’ documentary. In 2004 he gained his first feature film credit, as director on the feature documentary ‘Festival Express.’ He subsequently went on to direct documentaries on many of the world’s biggest music acts including The Who, Pink Floyd, The Doors, Elton John, Nirvana and the Spice Girls. Julian Caiden (Editor, Mini-Documentaries) Julian has worked with Bob Smeaton on numerous music documentaries including ‘Jimi Hendrix: Band of Gypsys’ and the ‘Classic Albums’ series, featuring The Who, Pink Floyd, The Doors, Elton John and Nirvana among others. He has worked on documentary profiles from Richard Pryor to Dr. John to Sir Ian McKellen, Herbie Hancock and Damien Hirst and on live music shows including the New York Dolls and Club Tropicana. The Abbey Road Team Allan Rouse (Project Coordinator) Allan joined EMI straight from school in 1971 at their Manchester Square head office, working as an assistant engineer in the demo studio. During this time he frequently worked with Norman (Hurricane) Smith, The Beatles’ first recording engineer. In 1991, he had his first involvement with The Beatles, copying all of their master tapes (mono, stereo, 4-track and 8-track) to digital tape as a safety backup. This was followed by four years working with Sir George Martin as assistant and project coordinator on the TV documentary ‘The Making of Sgt. Pepper’s’ and the CDs ‘Live at the BBC’ and ‘The Anthology.’ In 1997, MGM/UA were preparing to reissue the film ‘Yellow Submarine’ and, with the permission of Apple, asked that all of The Beatles’ music be mixed for the film in 5.1 surround and stereo. Allan requested the services of Abbey Road’s senior engineer Peter Cobbin and assistant Guy Massey and, along with them, produced the new mixes. Two years later, he proposed an experimental stereo and surround mix of John Lennon’s song ‘Imagine’ engineered by Peter Cobbin. Following lengthy consultations with Yoko Ono, the album ‘Imagine’ was re-mixed in stereo and the Grammy award-winning film ‘Gimme Some Truth’ in surround and new stereo. This led to a further five of John’s albums being re-mastered with new stereo mixes and the DVD release of ‘Lennon Legend’ being re-mixed in 5.1 surround and new stereo. Further projects followed, including The Beatles ‘Anthology’, ‘The First US Visit’ and ‘Help’ DVD and the albums ‘Let It Be…Naked’ and ‘Love’ along with George Harrison’s ‘Concert for Bangladesh’ DVD and album. For a number of years now, Allan has worked exclusively on Beatles and related projects. Guy Massey (Recording Engineer) Guy joined Abbey Road in 1994, and five years later assisted on the surround remix for The Beatles film ‘Yellow Submarine.’ This led to The Beatles’ ‘Anthology’ DVD and later, along with Paul Hicks and Allan Rouse, they mixed and produced ‘Let It Be… Naked.’ In 2004 he left the studios to become freelance and has engineered The Divine Comedy: ‘Victory for the Comic Muse,’ Air Traffic: ‘Fractured Life,’ James Dean Bradfield: ‘The Great Western’ and Stephen Fretwell’s ‘Magpie,’ co-producing the last two. Since leaving, Guy is still a vital member of the team, and has been the senior engineer for the re-mastering project and was responsible for surround and new stereo mixes for the DVD release of ‘Help!’ Steve Rooke (Mastering Engineer) Steve joined Abbey Road in 1983 and is now the studio’s senior mastering engineer. He has been involved on all The Beatles’ projects since 1999. He has also been responsible for mastering releases by John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. Paul Hicks (Recording Engineer) Paul started at Abbey Road in 1994, and his first involvement with The Beatles was assisting engineer Geoff Emerick on the Anthology albums. This was followed by ‘Yellow Submarine Songtrack,’ ‘Anthology’ DVD and ‘Let It Be… Naked.’ Like Guy Massey, he has also become a freelance engineer and since leaving the studios he has been responsible for the surround mixing of Paul McCartney’s DVD ‘The McCartney Years’ and The Beatles’ ‘Love.’ Paul has been in charge of the mono re-masters. Sean Magee (Mastering Engineer) Sean began working at Abbey Road in 1995 with a diploma in sound engineering. With a wealth of knowledge in analog and digital mastering, he has worked alongside Paul Hicks on the mono re-masters. Sam Okell (Recording Engineer) Sam’s first job as a member of the team was in 2006, assisting Paul Hicks on Paul McCartney’s DVD ‘The McCartney Years,’ and during that same year he was responsible for the re-mastering of George Harrison’s ‘Living In The Material World’ CD along with Steve Rooke. This led to him restoring the soundtrack to the Beatles film ‘Help!’ in surround and stereo, in addition to assisting Guy Massey with the song remixes. Sam has re-mastered ‘With The Beatles’ and ‘Let It Be.’ Simon Gibson (Audio Restoration Engineer) Simon joined Abbey Road in 1990. He has progressed from mastering mostly classical recordings to include a much wider range of music, including pop and rock, with his specialized role as an audio restoration engineer. Apart from the re-mastering project, his other work includes George Harrison’s ‘Living In The Material World,’ John Lennon’s ‘Lennon Legend,’ The Beatles’ ‘Love’ and the ‘Help!’ DVD soundtrack. "
Well, I could not put it better myself. I was hoping for two rare Beatles' releases, their "Christmas Album" (comprised of seven fan club tracks for each year 1963-1969), and "The Beatles At The Hollywood Bowl" (a live album mixed from two shows of the Beatles at the venue in 1964 and 1965.) Maybe soon.
Also, perhaps the worst packaging era of the old Beatles CDs was that the large book from "Let It Be" was not reproduced. I hope this is fixed.
I imagine the price will be steep. I'll have to save up (maybe I can get them all in one shot with the stereo Box-set.) I shant be going for the mono set. Too excessive, even for me.
Well, I'll push off that promised review of "Hannah Montana The Movie" soundtrack for now, as the idea of Miley and Emily singing from the book of John, and the Beatles being presented in the high fidelity they deserve, is just too much for me to take in at once.
And it is only Tuesday.
First off, check this link:
http://www.contactmusic.com/news.nsf/article/cyrus%20records%20imagine_1099984
Not only has Miley apparently recorded "Imagine," John Lennon's classic song from his sixth LP (2nd not counting collabs with Yoko), but it is also supposedly a duet with Emily Osment.
Each of these things would be good enough on their own, but together? Well, my head would have exploded from the excitement (please please please tell me this track will be released), but chunks of head matter had already been strewn all over my computer, because the Beatles are finally, after 22 years of sitting on them, are giving us remastered albums.
Here is the news, compiled from articles from http://thebeatles.com/core/home/
"Each of the CDs is packaged with replicated original UK album art, including expanded booklets containing original and newly written liner notes and rare photos. For a limited period, each CD will also be embedded with a brief documentary film about the album. On the same date, two new Beatles boxed CD collections will also be released. The albums have been re-mastered by a dedicated team of engineers at EMI’s Abbey Road Studios in London over a four year period utilising state of the art recording technology alongside vintage studio equipment, carefully maintaining the authenticity and integrity of the original analogue recordings. The result of this painstaking process is the highest fidelity the catalogue has seen since its original release. The collection comprises all 12 Beatles albums in stereo, with track listings and artwork as originally released in the UK, and ‘Magical Mystery Tour,’ which became part of The Beatles’ core catalogue when the CDs were first released in 1987. In addition, the collections ‘Past Masters Vol. I and II’ are now combined as one title, for a total of 14 titles over 16 discs. This will mark the first time that the first four Beatles albums will be available in stereo in their entirety on compact disc. These 14 albums, along with a DVD collection of the documentaries, will also be available for purchase together in a stereo boxed set. Within each CD’s new packaging, booklets include detailed historical notes along with informative recording notes. With the exception of the ‘Past Masters’ set, newly produced mini-documentaries on the making of each album, directed by Bob Smeaton, are included as QuickTime files on each album. The documentaries contain archival footage, rare photographs and never-before-heard studio chat from The Beatles, offering a unique and very personal insight into the studio atmosphere. A second boxed set has been created with the collector in mind. ‘The Beatles in Mono’ gathers together, in one place, all of the Beatles recordings that were mixed for a mono release. It will contain 10 of the albums with their original mono mixes, plus two further discs of mono masters (covering similar ground to the stereo tracks on ‘Past Masters’). As an added bonus, the mono “Help!” and “Rubber Soul” discs also include the original 1965 stereo mixes, which have not been previously released on CD. These albums will be packaged in mini-vinyl CD replicas of the original sleeves with all original inserts and label designs retained. For the latest news and information, go to: The Beatles Official Website Additional information: The Stereo Albums (available individually and collected in a stereo boxed set) The stereo albums have been remastered by Guy Massey, Steve Rooke, Sam Okell with Paul Hicks and Sean Magee All CD packages contain original vinyl artwork and liner notes Extensive archival photos Additional historical notes by Kevin Howlett and Mike Heatley Additional recording notes by Allan Rouse and Kevin Howlett * = CD includes QuickTime mini-doc about the album Please Please Me* (CD debut in stereo) With The Beatles* (CD debut in stereo) A Hard Day’s Night* (CD debut in stereo) Beatles For Sale* (CD debut in stereo) Help!* Rubber Soul* Revolver* Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band* (also includes 1987 notes, updated, and new intro by Paul McCartney) Magical Mystery Tour* The Beatles* Yellow Submarine* (also includes original US liner notes) Abbey Road* Let It Be* Past Masters (contains new liner notes written by Kevin Howlett) ‘The Beatles in Mono’ (boxed set only) The mono albums have been remastered by Paul Hicks, Sean Magee with Guy Massey and Steve Rooke Presented together in box with an essay written by Kevin Howlett + = mono mix CD debut Please Please Me With The Beatles A Hard Day’s Night Beatles For Sale Help! (CD also includes original 1965 stereo mix)+ Rubber Soul (CD also include original 1965 stereo mix)+ Revolver+ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band+ Magical Mystery Tour+ The Beatles+ Mono Masters Re-mastering the Beatles catalogue The re-mastering process commenced with an extensive period conducting tests before finally copying the analogue master tapes into the digital medium. When this was completed, the transfer was achieved using a Pro Tools workstation operating at 24 bit 192 kHz resolution via a Prism A-D converter. Transferring was a lengthy procedure done a track at a time. Although EMI tape does not suffer the oxide loss associated with some later analogue tapes, there was nevertheless a slight build up of dust, which was removed from the tape machine heads between each title. From the onset, considerable thought was given to what audio restorative processes were going to be allowed. It was agreed that electrical clicks, microphone vocal pops, excessive sibilance and bad edits should be improved where possible, so long as it didn’t impact on the original integrity of the songs. In addition, de-noising technology, which is often associated with re-mastering, was to be used, but subtly and sparingly. Eventually, less than five of the 525 minutes of Beatles music was subjected to this process. Finally, as is common with today’s music, overall limiting - to increase the volume level of the CD - has been used, but on the stereo versions only. However, it was unanimously agreed that because of the importance of The Beatles’ music, limiting would be used moderately, so as to retain the original dynamics of the recordings. When all of the albums had been transferred, each song was then listened to several times to locate any of the agreed imperfections. These were then addressed by Guy Massey, working with Audio Restoration engineer Simon Gibson. Mastering could now take place, once the earliest vinyl pressings, along with the existing CDs, were loaded into Pro Tools, thus allowing comparisons to be made with the original master tapes during the equalization process. When an album had been completed, it was auditioned the next day in studio three – a room familiar to the engineers, as all of the recent Beatles mixing projects had taken place in there – and any further alteration of EQ could be addressed back in the mastering room. Following the initial satisfaction of Guy and Steve, Allan Rouse and Mike Heatley then checked each new re-master in yet another location and offered any further suggestions. This continued until all 13 albums were completed to the team’s satisfaction. New Notes/Documentaries Team Kevin Howlett (Historical and Recording Notes) Kevin Howlett’s career as an award-winning radio producer spans three decades. His music programmes for the BBC have included many documentaries about The Beatles, including ‘The Beeb’s Lost Beatles Tapes.’ He received a Grammy nomination for his involvement with The Beatles’ album ‘Live At The BBC’ and, in 2003, produced the ‘Fly On The Wall’ bonus disc for ‘Let It Be… Naked.’ Mike Heatley (Historical Notes) Mike entered the music business via HMV Record Stores in 1970, transferring to EMI Records’ International Division three years later. He eventually headed up that division in the early Eighties before joining the company’s newly created Strategic Marketing Division in 1984. In 1988, he returned to International, where he undertook a number of catalogue marketing roles until he retired in December 2008. During his career he worked with many of EMI’s major artists, including Pink Floyd, Queen, Kate Bush and Iron Maiden. However, during the last 30 years he has formed a particularly strong relationship with Apple, and has been closely involved in the origination and promotion of the Beatles catalogue, besides solo releases from John, Paul, George and Ringo. Bob Smeaton (Director, Mini-Documentaries) Bob Smeaton was series director and writer on the Grammy award winning ‘Beatles Anthology’ TV series which aired in the UK and the USA in 1995. In 1998 he received his second Grammy for his ‘Jimi Hendrix: Band of Gypsys’ documentary. In 2004 he gained his first feature film credit, as director on the feature documentary ‘Festival Express.’ He subsequently went on to direct documentaries on many of the world’s biggest music acts including The Who, Pink Floyd, The Doors, Elton John, Nirvana and the Spice Girls. Julian Caiden (Editor, Mini-Documentaries) Julian has worked with Bob Smeaton on numerous music documentaries including ‘Jimi Hendrix: Band of Gypsys’ and the ‘Classic Albums’ series, featuring The Who, Pink Floyd, The Doors, Elton John and Nirvana among others. He has worked on documentary profiles from Richard Pryor to Dr. John to Sir Ian McKellen, Herbie Hancock and Damien Hirst and on live music shows including the New York Dolls and Club Tropicana. The Abbey Road Team Allan Rouse (Project Coordinator) Allan joined EMI straight from school in 1971 at their Manchester Square head office, working as an assistant engineer in the demo studio. During this time he frequently worked with Norman (Hurricane) Smith, The Beatles’ first recording engineer. In 1991, he had his first involvement with The Beatles, copying all of their master tapes (mono, stereo, 4-track and 8-track) to digital tape as a safety backup. This was followed by four years working with Sir George Martin as assistant and project coordinator on the TV documentary ‘The Making of Sgt. Pepper’s’ and the CDs ‘Live at the BBC’ and ‘The Anthology.’ In 1997, MGM/UA were preparing to reissue the film ‘Yellow Submarine’ and, with the permission of Apple, asked that all of The Beatles’ music be mixed for the film in 5.1 surround and stereo. Allan requested the services of Abbey Road’s senior engineer Peter Cobbin and assistant Guy Massey and, along with them, produced the new mixes. Two years later, he proposed an experimental stereo and surround mix of John Lennon’s song ‘Imagine’ engineered by Peter Cobbin. Following lengthy consultations with Yoko Ono, the album ‘Imagine’ was re-mixed in stereo and the Grammy award-winning film ‘Gimme Some Truth’ in surround and new stereo. This led to a further five of John’s albums being re-mastered with new stereo mixes and the DVD release of ‘Lennon Legend’ being re-mixed in 5.1 surround and new stereo. Further projects followed, including The Beatles ‘Anthology’, ‘The First US Visit’ and ‘Help’ DVD and the albums ‘Let It Be…Naked’ and ‘Love’ along with George Harrison’s ‘Concert for Bangladesh’ DVD and album. For a number of years now, Allan has worked exclusively on Beatles and related projects. Guy Massey (Recording Engineer) Guy joined Abbey Road in 1994, and five years later assisted on the surround remix for The Beatles film ‘Yellow Submarine.’ This led to The Beatles’ ‘Anthology’ DVD and later, along with Paul Hicks and Allan Rouse, they mixed and produced ‘Let It Be… Naked.’ In 2004 he left the studios to become freelance and has engineered The Divine Comedy: ‘Victory for the Comic Muse,’ Air Traffic: ‘Fractured Life,’ James Dean Bradfield: ‘The Great Western’ and Stephen Fretwell’s ‘Magpie,’ co-producing the last two. Since leaving, Guy is still a vital member of the team, and has been the senior engineer for the re-mastering project and was responsible for surround and new stereo mixes for the DVD release of ‘Help!’ Steve Rooke (Mastering Engineer) Steve joined Abbey Road in 1983 and is now the studio’s senior mastering engineer. He has been involved on all The Beatles’ projects since 1999. He has also been responsible for mastering releases by John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. Paul Hicks (Recording Engineer) Paul started at Abbey Road in 1994, and his first involvement with The Beatles was assisting engineer Geoff Emerick on the Anthology albums. This was followed by ‘Yellow Submarine Songtrack,’ ‘Anthology’ DVD and ‘Let It Be… Naked.’ Like Guy Massey, he has also become a freelance engineer and since leaving the studios he has been responsible for the surround mixing of Paul McCartney’s DVD ‘The McCartney Years’ and The Beatles’ ‘Love.’ Paul has been in charge of the mono re-masters. Sean Magee (Mastering Engineer) Sean began working at Abbey Road in 1995 with a diploma in sound engineering. With a wealth of knowledge in analog and digital mastering, he has worked alongside Paul Hicks on the mono re-masters. Sam Okell (Recording Engineer) Sam’s first job as a member of the team was in 2006, assisting Paul Hicks on Paul McCartney’s DVD ‘The McCartney Years,’ and during that same year he was responsible for the re-mastering of George Harrison’s ‘Living In The Material World’ CD along with Steve Rooke. This led to him restoring the soundtrack to the Beatles film ‘Help!’ in surround and stereo, in addition to assisting Guy Massey with the song remixes. Sam has re-mastered ‘With The Beatles’ and ‘Let It Be.’ Simon Gibson (Audio Restoration Engineer) Simon joined Abbey Road in 1990. He has progressed from mastering mostly classical recordings to include a much wider range of music, including pop and rock, with his specialized role as an audio restoration engineer. Apart from the re-mastering project, his other work includes George Harrison’s ‘Living In The Material World,’ John Lennon’s ‘Lennon Legend,’ The Beatles’ ‘Love’ and the ‘Help!’ DVD soundtrack. "
Well, I could not put it better myself. I was hoping for two rare Beatles' releases, their "Christmas Album" (comprised of seven fan club tracks for each year 1963-1969), and "The Beatles At The Hollywood Bowl" (a live album mixed from two shows of the Beatles at the venue in 1964 and 1965.) Maybe soon.
Also, perhaps the worst packaging era of the old Beatles CDs was that the large book from "Let It Be" was not reproduced. I hope this is fixed.
I imagine the price will be steep. I'll have to save up (maybe I can get them all in one shot with the stereo Box-set.) I shant be going for the mono set. Too excessive, even for me.
Well, I'll push off that promised review of "Hannah Montana The Movie" soundtrack for now, as the idea of Miley and Emily singing from the book of John, and the Beatles being presented in the high fidelity they deserve, is just too much for me to take in at once.
And it is only Tuesday.
Monday, April 6, 2009
"Don't Forget" Won't Be Forgotten
With the threat of the "Conficker" virus, my family decided no computer use in the household for the past week. Thankfully, that spell is over, and I'm back.
And so much has happened!
First off, Paul McCartney & Ringo Starr together at Radio City! As part of a charity show for teaching children Trancendental Meditation (an, er, interesting cause), Paul and Ringo appeared in their own sets, plus an encore together! During this encore, they did "With A Little Help From My Friends", "Cosmically Conscious" (a Paul song from 1968, which he recorded solo in 1993), and "I Saw Her Standing There." Paul and Ringo had last appeared on stage in 2003 for the George Harrison tribute concert. Look up this show on youtube.
Miley Cyrus is working hard to promote the "Hannah Montana" movie. She is on the radio, on daytime talk shows, on late shows, singing "The Climb", doing interviews, and making sure you see her movie out this Friday (in America, anyway.) I hope to see it with my friend Chris, and some lady friends of his.
Miley's song "Butterfly Fly Away" will see a re-release tomorrow on Billy Ray's "Back To Tennesee" album, promising an extended version of the beautiful duet (I assume Billy Ray will take on some solo vocals on this version.)
Selena Gomez has returned to the continental US after spending an extended period in Puerto Rico with her castmates working on the "Wizards Of Waverly Place" TV movie. But before we get too excited by that, she will star alongside old pal Demi Lovato in "Princess Protection Program" due on TV soon. Looks interesting, especially to see the two friends on screen together for the first time since Barney.
Speaking of Demi, I purchased her "Don't Forget" album, in the deluxe format. The album was very good. It had a heavy pop-rock feel, with crunchy guitars on "La La Land" (which, by the way, may very well have been called Hollywood Land, 'cept for the fact that it might clash with the fact that her record label is Hollywood.) Demi's voice is in top form, more trained and powerful than on her demos. The production of the album works well too, giving it some glisten, but without sterilzing it. Aside from strings, and the dynamics of the arrangemnts, all of this album could be recreated on stage (well, even the dynamics could, I guess. It would be pretty clever and tricky, though)
The singles are great. "Get Back" is kind of cocky, kind of desperate, and very catchy. Demi wants to "get back" with and old flame, and with the guitars blazing, plus some buried keyboards creating a bed of sound for the quieter moments, it is a kickin' song. "La La Land" is defiant, as Demi claims she won't be changed by her stardom. It is cleverly written and performed, with the lines "Well, some may say I need to be afraid /Of losing everything /Because of where I /Had my start and where I made my name ", a thinly veiled reference to her beginnings on Disney (not more than a few months past.) "Don't Forget" is a very simple song, its' arrangement calling to mind the JoBro's "Lovebug." However, Demi's is even more subtle, after breakining into a full rock peak, it comes back with strings, and then piano, with effects making it sound as though Demi is coming off a crackly vinyl.
Some of the slower songs don't do as much for me as the more rock ones, while "Party" is a bit of confusing one. It calls to mind Led Zeppelin with the riff, but I thought Demi was uncharacteristically tame. "Two Worlds Collide" has a great, sweeping melody. Overall, the album is tops.
The new tracks are "Lo Que Soy" (the acoustic "This Is Me" with spanish lyrics) and "Behind Enemy Lines." This song was probably left off the original album because it is very different. But we should get used to it, as Demi has said on TV that it is the direction she will be going on as she continues her music (despite not having started at the time, the ambitous Demi said back in February that she hoped to have an album out in the summer/fall.) The song is very jazzy, with her vocals up close in front of a bluesy arrangement. She seems to channel her hero, John Mayer, whose influence on her is otherwise non-existant on this album. I'm excited for Demi, and hope for much more in the same vein as "Behind Enemy Lines." It is a very original, artsy, and creative direction.
I also hope for a duet between her and Selena, but I digress.
This edition also has a DVD. The best parts here are her singing "Don't Forget" live, almost crying, channeling the inspiration of the song perhaps too well (although still breathing full life into the song.), as well as scenes of her being driven to a show, shouting out the window, waving at fans who don't at first recognize her. It is the most candid part of the set, and is very pleasant and satisfying. It is hard to believe when Demi first started concerts last year, she was just another up-and-coming talent hoping for recognition. Now she shines brightly.
I also picked up a copy of "Hannah Montana The Movie" soundtrack, but perhaps I will review that tomorrow (spoiler: it is not Miley's best, though certainly not bad.)
And so much has happened!
First off, Paul McCartney & Ringo Starr together at Radio City! As part of a charity show for teaching children Trancendental Meditation (an, er, interesting cause), Paul and Ringo appeared in their own sets, plus an encore together! During this encore, they did "With A Little Help From My Friends", "Cosmically Conscious" (a Paul song from 1968, which he recorded solo in 1993), and "I Saw Her Standing There." Paul and Ringo had last appeared on stage in 2003 for the George Harrison tribute concert. Look up this show on youtube.
Miley Cyrus is working hard to promote the "Hannah Montana" movie. She is on the radio, on daytime talk shows, on late shows, singing "The Climb", doing interviews, and making sure you see her movie out this Friday (in America, anyway.) I hope to see it with my friend Chris, and some lady friends of his.
Miley's song "Butterfly Fly Away" will see a re-release tomorrow on Billy Ray's "Back To Tennesee" album, promising an extended version of the beautiful duet (I assume Billy Ray will take on some solo vocals on this version.)
Selena Gomez has returned to the continental US after spending an extended period in Puerto Rico with her castmates working on the "Wizards Of Waverly Place" TV movie. But before we get too excited by that, she will star alongside old pal Demi Lovato in "Princess Protection Program" due on TV soon. Looks interesting, especially to see the two friends on screen together for the first time since Barney.
Speaking of Demi, I purchased her "Don't Forget" album, in the deluxe format. The album was very good. It had a heavy pop-rock feel, with crunchy guitars on "La La Land" (which, by the way, may very well have been called Hollywood Land, 'cept for the fact that it might clash with the fact that her record label is Hollywood.) Demi's voice is in top form, more trained and powerful than on her demos. The production of the album works well too, giving it some glisten, but without sterilzing it. Aside from strings, and the dynamics of the arrangemnts, all of this album could be recreated on stage (well, even the dynamics could, I guess. It would be pretty clever and tricky, though)
The singles are great. "Get Back" is kind of cocky, kind of desperate, and very catchy. Demi wants to "get back" with and old flame, and with the guitars blazing, plus some buried keyboards creating a bed of sound for the quieter moments, it is a kickin' song. "La La Land" is defiant, as Demi claims she won't be changed by her stardom. It is cleverly written and performed, with the lines "Well, some may say I need to be afraid /Of losing everything /Because of where I /Had my start and where I made my name ", a thinly veiled reference to her beginnings on Disney (not more than a few months past.) "Don't Forget" is a very simple song, its' arrangement calling to mind the JoBro's "Lovebug." However, Demi's is even more subtle, after breakining into a full rock peak, it comes back with strings, and then piano, with effects making it sound as though Demi is coming off a crackly vinyl.
Some of the slower songs don't do as much for me as the more rock ones, while "Party" is a bit of confusing one. It calls to mind Led Zeppelin with the riff, but I thought Demi was uncharacteristically tame. "Two Worlds Collide" has a great, sweeping melody. Overall, the album is tops.
The new tracks are "Lo Que Soy" (the acoustic "This Is Me" with spanish lyrics) and "Behind Enemy Lines." This song was probably left off the original album because it is very different. But we should get used to it, as Demi has said on TV that it is the direction she will be going on as she continues her music (despite not having started at the time, the ambitous Demi said back in February that she hoped to have an album out in the summer/fall.) The song is very jazzy, with her vocals up close in front of a bluesy arrangement. She seems to channel her hero, John Mayer, whose influence on her is otherwise non-existant on this album. I'm excited for Demi, and hope for much more in the same vein as "Behind Enemy Lines." It is a very original, artsy, and creative direction.
I also hope for a duet between her and Selena, but I digress.
This edition also has a DVD. The best parts here are her singing "Don't Forget" live, almost crying, channeling the inspiration of the song perhaps too well (although still breathing full life into the song.), as well as scenes of her being driven to a show, shouting out the window, waving at fans who don't at first recognize her. It is the most candid part of the set, and is very pleasant and satisfying. It is hard to believe when Demi first started concerts last year, she was just another up-and-coming talent hoping for recognition. Now she shines brightly.
I also picked up a copy of "Hannah Montana The Movie" soundtrack, but perhaps I will review that tomorrow (spoiler: it is not Miley's best, though certainly not bad.)
Monday, March 30, 2009
The KCAs
Last Saturday was the Kid's Choice Awards. I haven't watch a KCA show in a few years, so it was cool to catch it this year with a renewed interest.
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson was a funny host. I prefer him in children's fare than as a wrestler. He's pretty funny, and very self-teasing, in good taste.
I voted for some categories out of obligation, but others more seriously (considering that it is a Kid's Choice Award.)
Voting for best show was hard. I had to choose between "iCarly"and "Hannah Montana." Both great shows, but I ultimately chose "iCarly". As of late, it has been more entertaining. And it doesn't get the same press as "Hannah Montana." So I figured it deserved a KCA. And it won! Good call on my part.
Then their was best female singer. I chose Miley hands down, and she of course won. But when she came out (as part of a joke, where her and Johnson wore the same dress), she was given the award unannounced. She was first surprised, and then started crying. It was adorable, and showed how much she really cares about what she does.
Voting for best female actress was hard. Miley, Miranda, and Selena were all nominated. Most of the time, I chose Miranda. But the last time I voted, I gave it to Selena (in part just cause she is a good actress, and also because it was the only nom she got, unlike Miranda who got one for the show, and Miley who had singer, show, and voice in an animated movie.) And Selena won! She wasn't there, still working on the "Wizards" movie, but there is a video on youtube of her getting the news, and thanking her fans.
Lastly, the best part of the show was when the most unlikely trio came out to present an award. Miranda Cosgrove, John Cena, and Chris Rock came up to the podium. Forgive me as I paraphrase a bit, but their banter went something like this:
John Cena - we are going to be in a remake of "Charlie's Angels."
Miranda Cosgrove - I'll be the smart one
John Cena - I'll be the strong one
Chris Rock - and I'll be the black one.
Hysterical!
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson was a funny host. I prefer him in children's fare than as a wrestler. He's pretty funny, and very self-teasing, in good taste.
I voted for some categories out of obligation, but others more seriously (considering that it is a Kid's Choice Award.)
Voting for best show was hard. I had to choose between "iCarly"and "Hannah Montana." Both great shows, but I ultimately chose "iCarly". As of late, it has been more entertaining. And it doesn't get the same press as "Hannah Montana." So I figured it deserved a KCA. And it won! Good call on my part.
Then their was best female singer. I chose Miley hands down, and she of course won. But when she came out (as part of a joke, where her and Johnson wore the same dress), she was given the award unannounced. She was first surprised, and then started crying. It was adorable, and showed how much she really cares about what she does.
Voting for best female actress was hard. Miley, Miranda, and Selena were all nominated. Most of the time, I chose Miranda. But the last time I voted, I gave it to Selena (in part just cause she is a good actress, and also because it was the only nom she got, unlike Miranda who got one for the show, and Miley who had singer, show, and voice in an animated movie.) And Selena won! She wasn't there, still working on the "Wizards" movie, but there is a video on youtube of her getting the news, and thanking her fans.
Lastly, the best part of the show was when the most unlikely trio came out to present an award. Miranda Cosgrove, John Cena, and Chris Rock came up to the podium. Forgive me as I paraphrase a bit, but their banter went something like this:
John Cena - we are going to be in a remake of "Charlie's Angels."
Miranda Cosgrove - I'll be the smart one
John Cena - I'll be the strong one
Chris Rock - and I'll be the black one.
Hysterical!
Monday, March 23, 2009
And She's Only Sixteen
Miley Cyrus has a hit TV show, high charting songs, sold out tours, and a movie that is sure to be a box-office smash. She can sing, dance, and act. And she can write, too!
Miley's first ever book, "Miles To Go," has reached #1 on the New York Times Bestseller list.
http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20090323005477&newsLang=en
When I first heard about the book, I was unsure about it. I mean, a teenager younger than myself writing an autobiography? It sounded utterly ridiculous. But I soon realized that it was not meant to be her full life story, but merely a chance for her to look back and reflect, as well as share her insights about her life as she continues her newfound success.
I imagined I'd be checking a copy out of the local library, but at the end of February, whilst checking her website, I read that Miley would be signing copies of her book at a meet & greet in a Manhattan Barnes & Noble. I looked at the details, and read that in order to meet her, one would need to get a ticket (only 500 all together), which would be available at 6am the morning before she was due to appear. That would mean that I would have to be there much earlier, as I would have to beat out many other hopeful fans to insure I would get a ticket. I don't wake up until 6, and generally don't get to the city until 7:30. So I regrettingly shrugged off the idea of meeting her.
The next day, I told my friend Chris (of becauseimchriskhan.blogspot.com) and he was really excited. He wanted to go, and I became reinvigorated. Maybe I could convince my dad to get me up early if I told him I'd be with a friend. We spent the rest of the week making plans and finally it was the day before. I mustered up the courage to ask my dad (what dad wants to hear his teenage son wants to wait early in the morning for Miley Cyrus?) He said no at first (various reasons including the fact that I was supposed to watch my sister after school, and although I wanted to take her with me to see Miley, that was no good.) Finally, he said okay, and asked what time to wake me up. When I told him 2:30, he was taken aback, but allowed it.
It was impossible to fall asleep that night. I had a couple hours early in a nap, but I still didn't fall asleep until after twelve. So when my dad came in to get me up, I had barely slept. Still, I got dressed and out the door in record time. Outside was eerie. It was dark, cold, and quiet. I was very jumpy walking to the elevated train. I finally sat down in the waiting area, put on my iPod, and realized I was shaking. The train was just as strange. Some people were going to work, some going home. I had to take 3 trains. The first two were quick, but the last usually would take twenty minutes. But there were workers on the track, so the train crawled along for them to be safe.
When I finally came outside, I started to run, for about 3 blocks and an avenue, afraid that if I walked I'd someone how be too late. When I got on the line, it was 4:15. There was only about 100 or 150 people ahead of me. I was glad, and now just had to wait. And wait. And wait. And watch the sunrise. My friend Chris came at the last minute. He would have gone to the back of the line, but I took him with me. We bought our books, got our wristbracelets (to be used as tickets) and went to school (we were pretty early!)
I spent the whole day telling friends and teachers my story, as well as protecting my wrist bracelet, fearing it would rip and I wouldn't be let in. The day seemed to drag, and I was mighty tired. Thankfully, Chris treated me to a cab after school to get back to the Barnes & Noble. Sure, I got a little carsick, but it beat a commute that would take twice as long.
Their was already a long line at the Barnes & Noble, full of people from the morning. We got on it, and again waited. It was only 3, and Miley wouldn't start signing 'til 4. At 3:30, a big black SUV thing drove past us, with Miley waving from the window. Miley Cyrus! It was so exciting! She was driven into a parking facility, and disappeared into the garage. The line started moving by 4, and I got more nervous as we got closer. Once inside Barnes & Noble, the line zig zagged through a maze of bookshelves. It felt like we were far away, but the line moved fast, and soon we were a few people away. I took out my camera, and gave it to an employee who was taking picture (in order to keep the line moving as fast as possible. And finally, I was up. Miley was sitting there, looking even cuter in person, with her little sister sitting next to her. I handed Miley the book, and in an excited tone, said something along the lines of "I'm a BIG fan." She signed the book (with a little heart too), posed for the picture, and said bye. I felt so happy and satisfied.
I read the book in two sittings. I was a great read. It was not a linear "first i was born, then i turned five, then i turned famous..." Instead, it jumped around various life experiences, from being bullied, to auditioning, to working with her castmates. There was a lot about her family, which was very nice to read. Especially the stories about her and her father when she was younger. Those life lessons he would tell her shaped who she is today. As I read through it, I imagined Miley's voice reading it, like a narrator. And that was another cool part about it. It had a very conversational tone, like it was her talking. Lots of little side notes were present, adding clever little quips. It added a lot of personality.
Congrats to Miley for being a bestseller in books. What can this girl not do?
Miley's first ever book, "Miles To Go," has reached #1 on the New York Times Bestseller list.
http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20090323005477&newsLang=en
When I first heard about the book, I was unsure about it. I mean, a teenager younger than myself writing an autobiography? It sounded utterly ridiculous. But I soon realized that it was not meant to be her full life story, but merely a chance for her to look back and reflect, as well as share her insights about her life as she continues her newfound success.
I imagined I'd be checking a copy out of the local library, but at the end of February, whilst checking her website, I read that Miley would be signing copies of her book at a meet & greet in a Manhattan Barnes & Noble. I looked at the details, and read that in order to meet her, one would need to get a ticket (only 500 all together), which would be available at 6am the morning before she was due to appear. That would mean that I would have to be there much earlier, as I would have to beat out many other hopeful fans to insure I would get a ticket. I don't wake up until 6, and generally don't get to the city until 7:30. So I regrettingly shrugged off the idea of meeting her.
The next day, I told my friend Chris (of becauseimchriskhan.blogspot.com) and he was really excited. He wanted to go, and I became reinvigorated. Maybe I could convince my dad to get me up early if I told him I'd be with a friend. We spent the rest of the week making plans and finally it was the day before. I mustered up the courage to ask my dad (what dad wants to hear his teenage son wants to wait early in the morning for Miley Cyrus?) He said no at first (various reasons including the fact that I was supposed to watch my sister after school, and although I wanted to take her with me to see Miley, that was no good.) Finally, he said okay, and asked what time to wake me up. When I told him 2:30, he was taken aback, but allowed it.
It was impossible to fall asleep that night. I had a couple hours early in a nap, but I still didn't fall asleep until after twelve. So when my dad came in to get me up, I had barely slept. Still, I got dressed and out the door in record time. Outside was eerie. It was dark, cold, and quiet. I was very jumpy walking to the elevated train. I finally sat down in the waiting area, put on my iPod, and realized I was shaking. The train was just as strange. Some people were going to work, some going home. I had to take 3 trains. The first two were quick, but the last usually would take twenty minutes. But there were workers on the track, so the train crawled along for them to be safe.
When I finally came outside, I started to run, for about 3 blocks and an avenue, afraid that if I walked I'd someone how be too late. When I got on the line, it was 4:15. There was only about 100 or 150 people ahead of me. I was glad, and now just had to wait. And wait. And wait. And watch the sunrise. My friend Chris came at the last minute. He would have gone to the back of the line, but I took him with me. We bought our books, got our wristbracelets (to be used as tickets) and went to school (we were pretty early!)
I spent the whole day telling friends and teachers my story, as well as protecting my wrist bracelet, fearing it would rip and I wouldn't be let in. The day seemed to drag, and I was mighty tired. Thankfully, Chris treated me to a cab after school to get back to the Barnes & Noble. Sure, I got a little carsick, but it beat a commute that would take twice as long.
Their was already a long line at the Barnes & Noble, full of people from the morning. We got on it, and again waited. It was only 3, and Miley wouldn't start signing 'til 4. At 3:30, a big black SUV thing drove past us, with Miley waving from the window. Miley Cyrus! It was so exciting! She was driven into a parking facility, and disappeared into the garage. The line started moving by 4, and I got more nervous as we got closer. Once inside Barnes & Noble, the line zig zagged through a maze of bookshelves. It felt like we were far away, but the line moved fast, and soon we were a few people away. I took out my camera, and gave it to an employee who was taking picture (in order to keep the line moving as fast as possible. And finally, I was up. Miley was sitting there, looking even cuter in person, with her little sister sitting next to her. I handed Miley the book, and in an excited tone, said something along the lines of "I'm a BIG fan." She signed the book (with a little heart too), posed for the picture, and said bye. I felt so happy and satisfied.
I read the book in two sittings. I was a great read. It was not a linear "first i was born, then i turned five, then i turned famous..." Instead, it jumped around various life experiences, from being bullied, to auditioning, to working with her castmates. There was a lot about her family, which was very nice to read. Especially the stories about her and her father when she was younger. Those life lessons he would tell her shaped who she is today. As I read through it, I imagined Miley's voice reading it, like a narrator. And that was another cool part about it. It had a very conversational tone, like it was her talking. Lots of little side notes were present, adding clever little quips. It added a lot of personality.
Congrats to Miley for being a bestseller in books. What can this girl not do?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
