Search

Search only in certain items:

Ethiopiques 21: Piano Solo by Emahoy Tsegue-Maryam Guebrou
(0 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"Those Éthiopiques reissues were so amazing. This was the 21st one of those - it was a collection of some of her recordings. She was known as ""The Singing Nun"". The reissues introduced me to Ethiopian music. I'd never heard any before then, and I think that's probably true for most people. I was so bewitched by it. When I heard the Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou album I was totally blown away. The first thing I thought of when I heard it was Thelonious Monk. He was an obsession of mine when I was a piano-playing teenager. It also made me think of Debussy and Satie and stuff - the way the harmony just hangs there in suspension. Her playing - the manual element of it, like the way you can hear her fingers moving around the keyboard, reminds me of Monk and Mingus and those more idiosyncratic jazz musicians. It's so beautiful. This was the beginning of me thinking that Ethiopia was a really interesting culture that I knew absolutely nothing about. My wife and I moved to London into a little flat on Caledonian Road and there were lots of Ethiopian restaurants around there - it was a little hub for the Ethiopian community. Getenesh, the owner of this restaurant Kokeb, we were there so much that she took us in and adopted us. We still get phone calls from her if we haven't been there for a long time. I think it was the music and that, and right before Swim came out, my wife and I were basically not going to see each other for a year because I was going to be away so much, so we decided to go on a trip and do something special together. So we went to Ethiopia and I fell in love with this record all over again. It's such a distinctive place with a distinctive musical culture. When you're there all you hear is Ethiopian music. There's no Bieber or Western music. I thought the album was a totally undiscovered gem, a rare thing, but I heard two people that had my favourite track on the record as their ringtone! That blew me away. Imagine if somebody over here had Benjamin Britten on their phone. It gave me a sense of what a deep-rooted and proud musical culture it is."

Source
  
Black Messiah by D'Angelo / D'Angelo and the Vanguard
Black Messiah by D'Angelo / D'Angelo and the Vanguard
2014 | Rhythm And Blues
(0 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"Trevor Nelson had a show on Radio 1 called Rhythm Nation, and every Thursday night he would play all this music that would literally become my musical education. Again, it helped me understand myself on a new level. I got introduced to the neo-soul era through him; a lot of the Philadelphia artists like Jill Scott, Musiq Soulchild, and D’Angelo. ""I just love D’Angelo. He’s a musical genius. His gentleness was something that really stood out to me, as did Lauryn Hill’s. It was a real subtlety to what he was doing – very considered in where the notes went, and what word was used. At the same time, it was then like a jam! He really nailed this sweet spot in between virtuoso and jamming. ""When I was in Glasgow, my first ever record deal was signed to this guy called Souljawn. He was a massive soul fan, and he said ‘Oh, I found this snippet online of D’Angelo’s new album!’ It was literally a two-minute, really scratchy clip of him singing this song, 'Real Love'. We’d all wondered where he’d gone, ‘cause it had been six years in between albums! We were up there in Glasgow obsessing over this two-minute clip, playing it over and over and over again! Like with 'My Love is Your Love' there was this want and need for music, and real appreciation of when it’s going to come. The willingness to wait for it – it had been six years and we were willing to wait another six ‘cause we just appreciated his genius so much! ""When his most recent album finally came out, the song was there, fully finished. It was so rewarding and satisfying to hear it all finished. To finally hear it now, and still love it… only D’Angelo! He’s incredible. ""I saw him at the Roundhouse recently and he really blew me away. He inspires me to learn more instruments, and to also just relax in music and allow more of an artistic spirit to come through – to not try and control things too much. It was really cool how he went offstage: each musician would slowly walk off and then he was left there, on his Rhodes piano. Playing piano is one thing, but playing a Wurlitzer or a Rhodes is a different, softer approach. He’s really inspired me to look into more of that jazz-soul realm on that instrument."

Source
  
40x40

Nancy Whang recommended Dynamics by Holy Ghost! in Music (curated)

 
Dynamics by Holy Ghost!
Dynamics by Holy Ghost!
2013 | Alternative, Dance, Electronic, Pop, Rock
(0 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"Full disclosure - I'm a little biased. They're on DFA, they're my friends, and one of them is my boyfriend. But regardless of that I think it's a really beautiful record. The first record they did was great but I know that they were still trying to hone their sound, figure out what they were and what sort of stance to take. So with Dynamics I think it's way more solid and way more confident. Knowing them, they're such an interesting combination writing-wise because one of them, if it were up to him, would make a Tangerine Dream record, and the other has real pop sensibilities. So together they can make this thing that's really lush, beautiful and complex, but also accessible. I feel the album was overlooked somehow, and I don't really understand it. It makes me question my musical sensibility. I think this record is amazing so why doesn't everybody think this record is amazing? But it is. I listened to it a couple of months before it came out and at the time I was touring a lot as a DJ, spending a lot of time by myself because that's just what happens when you're a DJ that has to travel. So it was getting a little bleak. Every day I was in some other place, alone, inside of a hotel room, inside a club, on an aeroplane. But I had that record on my iPod and I would have to go running just to stop myself from throwing myself under a bus. I loved every song and each time I listened to it I'd try and pick my favourite track but as each one ended another one would start that I thought was better than the other. It's a mystery to me though, because it's not like I was the only person who loved it. All of our friends, the whole of DFA, whose musical tastes I trust over anybody else, we were all in agreement that it was a great record. I think maybe I just don't know what other people want to hear, which is an uncomfortable position to be in doing what I do. But I know that they're very proud of the record and so I'm glad for that."

Source
  
    Björk: Biophilia

    Björk: Biophilia

    Music and Entertainment

    (0 Ratings) Rate It

    App

    Biophilia is an extraordinary and innovative multimedia exploration of music, nature and technology...

    Fretuoso - Guitar Edition

    Fretuoso - Guitar Edition

    Education and Music

    (0 Ratings) Rate It

    App

    An educational game to learn the location of notes on the fretboard of the guitar and other stringed...

HT
How To Succeed in Witchcraft
Aislinn Brophy | 2022 | LGBTQ+, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Young Adult (YA)
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Trigger Warnings: Grooming, prejudice, racism

Shay Johnson is a junior at T.K. Anderson Magical Magnet School and has done everything she possibly can to win the full-ride Brockton Scholarship - her ticket into the university of her dreams. Her only real competition is Ana Alvarez, but Shay also knows if she can impress Mr.B, the drama teacher and head of the scholarship committee, she’ll have an upper leg.

When Mr.B “persuades” Shay into being in the school’s racially diverse musical, in their no-so-diverse school, she agrees, and lands the leading role. But Ana is right behind her playing the second female lead. With the start of rehearsals, Shay realizes Ana isn’t the intense enemy she’s always thought she was… perhaps, she would be a friend, or more?

But when Shay gets asked by Mr.B to do some one-on-one practicing for the musical, she finds herself on the receiving end of Mr.B’s unpleasant and unwanted attention. When Shay learns she’s not the first witch to experience his inappropriate behavior, she must decide if she’ll come forward. But, will speaking out cancel her opportunity for the scholarship - her future?

This book deals with a lot of hard topics: grooming, prejudice, abuse of power, racism. I feel like Aislinn Brophy did a good job in writing the predatory actions that Mr.B was doing with Shay - every time something between them happened, it made my skin crawl.

I did enjoy the enemy-to-lovers storyline; or should I say misunderstandings-to-lovers storyline? It was cute and adorable and nothing drastically changed afterwards (besides more cuteness).

Though the title I feel like the title is a little deceiving, I still liked that magic was a part of the world here, but that magic doesn’t fix everything. Even in a world where you can fly around on brooms and make potions to help you wake up, the world is still far from perfect.

Overall, this is a magic-filled book that dives into where one draws the line on what they will allow to happen in order to get something they’ve worked so hard for their entire life. A good read for the witchy season coming up, but also a good read for the message behind it.

*Thank you G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Reads and BookishFirst for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review
  
I was warned off of this book by a friend of mine, but I figured since I am FINALLY going to see the musical in January I'd give it a shot. Boy am I ever glad I did! I really enjoyed it!! This is another book that should allow half stars, because truly it is a 4.5 not a 4. The only reason it isn't 5 is that there are a few parts that drag, but not enough that I didn't enjoy the book as a whole.
Wicked tells the story of the Wicked Witch of the West. It is incredibly interesting to see the famous story from another character's point of view. I must admit there were things that surprised me completely. I was always fascinated by the Witch when I was younger & now she makes so much more sense. I was never afraid of her, but her Flying Monkeys were another story.
I don't want to say too much & give anything away, but let's just say the Wicked Witch never intended to be wicked, nor was she really a witch! Mind blown!!! :)
  
40x40

Awix (3310 KP) rated The Greatest Showman (2017) in Movies

Feb 7, 2018 (Updated Feb 7, 2018)  
The Greatest Showman (2017)
The Greatest Showman (2017)
2017 | Drama, Musical
Cheese with a side order of sugar
I suppose Hugh Jackman has to do something now he's retired from being Wolverine, and as his skill-set basically consists of eviscerating people with his implanted claws and being able to sing and dance a bit, it's not surprising that his first big post-rodent movie is a musical.

Despite being (theoretically) a historical bio-pic, The Greatest Showman is very much of our time in that it has a powerful message about diversity and inclusivity. That there is anything odd about a film about diversity and inclusivity a) being fronted by two straight white dudes and b) concerning a conman who made a huge fortune by running a freak show, does not appear to have occurred to the film-makers.

The plot is ridiculous sugary cheese, but what keep the film (I'm tempted to say annoyingly) watchable are the songs and choreography, which are really, really good and deserve to be in a much better-written movie. Pretty much the definition of an undemanding guilty pleasure, although I have to note that this is one of those movies that everyone seems to hate apart from the mass audience.
  
Deadpool 2 (2018)
Deadpool 2 (2018)
2018 | Action, Comedy
The Cast (4 more)
The storyline
The humor
The action
The CGI characters
Missed having Vanessa in it more than she was (0 more)
Better than the original... No really, I mean it.
Liked it better than the original. Still kept the funny coming from every angle, still stayed true to the characters, and it was just a fun comic book movie overall.

Deadpool 2 progresses from the Deadpool in a number of ways. We explore Wade and the rest of the cast in a lot more detail. We also get to see Wade working out his demons with a team of super heroes instead of just by himself for the most of the movie.

Personally, for me, this was the best X-Movie of them all. Better than the originals and maybe only surpassed by Logan on some levels. I really don't think it missed for me at all. Not having Vanessa in it made sense but I did get the reasoning behind it.

Stay until the end. You get a few more scenes and then at the very end you get a reprise of one of the best musical moments in the flick.
  
Heart to Mouth by LP
Heart to Mouth by LP
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Album Rating
LP is a singer-songwriter based in Los Angeles, California. Not too long ago, she released a dynamic emo-alternative tune, entitled, “Shaken”, produced by Fred Gibson.

“All night, sipping on a feeling. Won’t lie, was nervous for this evening. Then you arrive. Oh god, why you gotta look so, so hot? Remembering your body on mine, I wanna cry. I, I knew that you’d be here tonight but suddenly I’m paralyzed. Who’s she by your side?” – lyrics

‘Shaken’ tells a heartbreaking tale of a young woman who sees her ex-lover at a public place.

Apparently, she is hidden in the corner, shaking, and jealously looking at her ex and the ex’s new girlfriend having a great time.

Later, when her ex gets up to leave, the woman admits that it feels like she’s watching someone else living her life.

‘Shaken’ contains a gripping storyline, ear-welcoming vocals, and dynamic instrumentation flavored with musical highs and lows.

The likable tune is featured on LP’s “Heart to Mouth” album, which can be streamed online via Spotify.

LP’s “Heart to Mouth” album recently hit #1 in Italy and will continue to break charts around the world.

https://www.bongminesentertainment.com/lp-shaken/