Just finished watching the DVD flick I bought two days ago. The movie is amazingly good, too good for words. Simple storyline yet far too intelligent for the average movie watcher. So many good actresses in one film, it is like a talent orgy (Glenn Close, Holly Hunter, Calista Flockhart, and Kathy Baker just to name half of them). The stories are rather depressing, but the overall plot is worth watching time and again. Oh, in case anybody wonders what movie I’m referring to, I am talking about Things You Can Tell Just By Looking At Her.
I am in a pretty cool mood right now, it must be the cold shower I just had to take; the air conditioner won’t be fixed till Monday. But in every other sense I’m feeling at ease tonight. It was one of those days when you look at your problems, smile, and say “whatever…just fuck it.” I finally am coming to terms with various issues at work, home, school, and the personal realms. For some reason I remembered the last words by the main character in my favourite novel by Allende: “Ya soy libre… Por fin soy libre…” (for the Spanish impaired that translates into “I’m now free… Finally I’m free”). I’m even singing along to Primal Scream’s “Moving On Up.” I guess the future must be unfolding… in a good way.
As promised, let’s talk about good music. How bout reviewing a couple of good singles from the past four weeks. First I will address Beverley Knight’s “Shoulda Woulda Coulda.” This lady is so immensely talented, gifted with a beautiful and soulful voice, a great song writer, a perfect example of what good R&B is about. It is rather unfortunate that she hasn’t had very big hits so far, this single being her first one to crack the top ten.
The track is more pop oriented than your average soul single, something that you would think Beverley probably wrote for somebody else to perform. Luckily she was the one who did it. Certainly the single does not reach the quality heights of previous songs like “Get Up!” (released in late November of last year, the track stands as one of the best in the past 6 months). Still, “Shoulda Woulda Coulda” is ten times better than the average single in the current market. Hopefully one the American labels will discover this gem and decide to promote it in the way that it has been pushed in Europe. Great talents like hers should never be ignored or wasted.
Also very deserving of good amounts of praise is Joi’s “Missing You.” The first single to be promoted in the Us from her upcoming Star Kitty’s Revenge, this track is a very good example of what the neo-soul movement is about. The tune has all the right ingredients: great instrumentation, no sampling, a mournful performance, and a simple yet beautiful set of lyrics. Anyone lucky enough to have gotten their hands on any of Joi’s previous material will be delighted by this single and all the other tracks on the album. This is a real example of what good music is supposed to be about; no mushy shite, not overtly commercial, clean production, original. Long live SOUL music.
And yes, those who know me might be wondering “how come he hasn’t reviewed any dance singles?” Well, I will admit without any shame that the dance single I like the most at this moment is by no other than Kylie herself. And no, I am not talking about “Can’t Get You Out of My Head,” which is now a huge hit in the US. I’m referring to “In Your Eyes,” which has some really amazing remixes on CD #2. They are so good that even those who “claim” to dislike Kylie will be delighted by them (notice that I say “claim” ’cause secretly everybody likes one of her singles, even if it has to be “Shocked” or “The Locomotion”).
Other really noteworthy dance singles are DB Boulevard’s “Point Of View” and Octave One’s “Black Water.” The first one is a very disco-oriented ditty. It is simple in its execution yet pleasant to the ear at the very first play. This should do pretty well at the clubs here in South Beach, which are always looking for the trendy sounds of Ibiza and other European places. The second tune I mentioned features the powerful vocals of Ann Anderson. It is more of a house single with some basic Tenaglia-like sounds at the intro, a falsetto vocal that leads to a full blown gospel-like chorus, and an energetic beat to it. This is one that is more suited for European or NY clubs, but it is very worth each of its eight minutes. There are some other good dance singles out there but I don’t wanna take forever on an entry that should have been wrapped up an hour ago.
Quick closing notes: the full length by Brandy is actually very good; with the exception of the re-make of “Another Day In Paradise” (which was not made for this album in any case), every track has a very good and mature sound to it. Besides the first single I like two songs in particular: the title track “Full Moon” and the bittersweet “Love Wouldn’t Count Me Out.” Too bad the album doesn’t open at number one in the US, as the boring soundtrack to “O Brother…” takes the top honours after more than a year of being released.
Quick note number two: Did anybody know that Photoshop 7 is coming out soon? Some of us are still getting used to the changes in version 6.0 and now there is a new one coming out in May. Oh well, not like I’m gonna buy it, but it is good to know. Macromedia will be releasing Flash 6 as well, but the date is unknown. It is supposed to have some very good add ons, although they won’t [probably] be of much use to the average user. And quick note #3: the world will be tortured again by Celine Dion in less than a month. Wasn’t she supposed to have retired to care for her husband? I mean, she is a wonderful singer, but she is BOOORING and her $ongs are spelled with dollar $igns. Expect your local radio station to overplay the first track “New Day Has Come” until you hate it. Well, that does it for tonight. ADIOS…