Pre-sale for Prima Donna at Luminato Festival

Pre-sale for Prima Donna at Luminato Festival

Posted using ShareThis

Autumn has a Soundtrack: It's the Rufus Wainwright Catalogue

If you love drama. If you value genius. If your tastes are of a sensual nature you can't help but absolutely love Rufus Wainwright. Nor can you avoid constantly listening to Want One. Music basically is lacking these days. The few gifted yet profitable artists like Tori Amos and Rufus are a rarity to truly be embraced. Although I love all three of his albums this one is the most soulfully fulfilling. His mix of cabaret and pop is unlike any other musician's I've yet to find. The music is healthy decadence. I truly think he is a musical genius a rarity like Zappa, Tori, and all the other visionary artists, plus he is undeniably beautiful to look at (not that its a factor, but it doesn't hurt). His stage manner is captivating and his live performances engulf you in the moment. I recommend listening to "Oh What a World", "Go or Go Ahead", and "Movies of Myself" Actually all of his albums are perfection start to finish so listen to them all straight through. If you can't get enough of this he is on the soundtracks to I Am Sam, Moulin Rogue, and Shrek. Plus he sings a gorgeous duet with Julianna Raye on her Restless Nights album. This is artistic Heaven. This is who Elton John hails, "the greatest song-writer on the planet." This is the sound of Autumn in balance.


NY Times Talks featuring Elton John, Sting, and the Scissor Sisters:

http://www.intraviews.com/interview/ny-times-talks-rufus-wainwright-part-1


Across the Universe video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H71Fv3PcQQY

Rufus on All Things Considered:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10876262&ps=rs

Tori Amos Gets Festive

What happens when your favorite musical artist makes a Christmas album? What happens when this particular artist is known for her outright avoidance of traditional American flair, pop sensibility, or anything close to the term “selling out?” One has to wonder if it is the musical apocalypse or if it is a strategic and well-timed concept album.

Tori Amos has for several years now been on a decline according to her devout fans. They love her, but feel disappointment after disappointment with each successive album post From the Choirgirl Hotel. Her music once outrageous in content and diverse in sound has been steadily following a very similar format reminiscent of adult-contemporary radio. Should we expect this mother and maturing woman to stay in one zone for her entire life and musical career? Certainly in our rational minds we would not demand such a thing, but in our thirst for nostalgia and nerve awakening, fans long for the “old” Tori.

Where can you from an up? Obviously down, and that meant from the volcanic tip of Pele. Boys For Pele was Amos at her finest. It is her masterpiece. It was before her child, it was fueled by internal journeys some psychedelic in nature, and it no doubt was in a time in anyone’s life where passion is paramount.

Her sound was varied and extraordinary. In the past several years one song to the next sounds the same, but there is texture and enlightenment in them that still surpasses her peers.

Does the Christmas album signal the bottom of Amos’ capabilities and vision?

Critics are saying absolutely not. It may be an album debuting around Christmas, but it seasonal and conceptual and quite possibly a harking back to the best of Tori.

We’ve gone from, “God sometimes you just don’t come through” to “O Come O Come Emmanuel.”

It’s a hard transition.

WIKIPEDIA INFORMATION:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midwinter_Graces

BUY THE ALBUM FROM AMAZON:

http://www.amazon.com/Midwinter-Graces-CD-DVD-Combo/dp/B002QCKOME

TORI FAN SITE:

http://yessaid.com/

Lost Mother of Fusion: Betty Davis

"They say I'm different"



"Betty Davis is the funk," says poet and rapper Saul Williams. He among many other artists are awe-inspired by a woman, a creator far removed from the public knowledge and the art she once created. Or, at least we think so.

Betty Mabry Davis, the former wife of Jazz legend Miles, and the inspiration for his two great albums In a Silent Way and Bitches Brew was not just a muse. Although, her inspiration was immense having collaborated with her equally powerful husband, she also enhanced the music of Sly and the Family Stone, George Clinton, Carlos Santana, and her “dear friend” Jimi Hendrix. Quite possibly, there would be no genre called Fusion had Betty not met these eccentric scions of music. If that is the case, how is it that her name calls to mind a glamorous movie star from old Hollywood and not an exotic and fierce earth mama in silver platform boots with a catalogue of music that is worthy of popular appreciation and endless critical reference.

Betty wrote and produced all of her three albums of which each could represent the foundations of funk music within its minimal ten plus songs. She called her rock and blues infused Funk “raw” when asked to describe it in one word. It seems so natural, truthful, and rare. “Raw” is a perfect word from a woman whom we only know of as being hyper-intuitive, sexual, and physically and mentally gifted. It seems the “mother” and creator of an entire genre was hidden. It is as if Mary’s name was taken out of the Bible. The musical bible is without its mother. She with her perfectly balanced mother and lover image encased in a body of an Egyptian goddess inhabited a space in the musical universe where only a few great minds have traveled. Perhaps, her “great mind” is exactly why cult fanatics can’t seem to find out where Ms. Davis is or what has happened in the years post the birth of Fusion. She is Sun Ra on estrogen. And, to most music appreciators she might as well be living on another planet and not in some non-descript Pennsylvania apartment with no biography past the seventies. A majority of people have never heard of her. The fans who have, know they have stumbled upon a gem and in doing so, have bitten into some scrumptious knowledge of sound, and the core of the symphonic apple.

Rumor has it that Betty has a back catalogue of unreleased material from her time in obscurity. “I am based between New York and San Francisco,” she casually pronounced in a retro radio interview. Even then, she wanted to remain personally ambiguous, even with her bold look and even bolder lyrics. Her contradictions were fascinating. She later said, in the interview, “I am a Leo…I love to be loved by a lot of people.” Is this a master plan by a sonic genius? Or, is this a woman lost, creating music in a beautiful mind no longer having the shell to match? Maybe the mystique does well in preserving her legend and impact as she didn’t fade out in the traditional sense, as we see some modern geniuses doing, as in the possible case of Tori Amos.

"God, I wish she would release that shit—that would be amazing," Williams says, when told of Ms. Davis’ unheard material. "There has never been a better time for a Betty Davis resurgence."

Maybe, late is better than never. Maybe, it is time for her to be simply “loved by a lot of people.”




MYSPACE TRIBUTE PAGE:

http://www.myspace.com/bettymabrydavis

AUDIO INTERVIEW:

http://www.divshare.com/download/797397-934

BETTY DAVIS IS BACK!

http://www.seattleweekly.com/2007-05-02/music/betty-davis-is-back-thanks-to-seattle-s-light-in-the-attic.php

To the Tune of Laurel Canyon

“The Lovers, not the killers. Born to dance and sing and have great, golden copulations. The caretakers of this Garden of Eden. Bedazzled by this thousand-faceted diamond that we call existence. Nuturing the soil. Honoring all the creatures we share this globe with. Ultimately, being the new Adam and Eve. Alive!
And that was the foundation of Laurel Canyon” –Ray Manzarek

There is a new but familiar trend in the musical atmosphere. With artists like Iron and Wine, Devendra Banhart, She and Him, CocoRosie, Bright Eyes, and Joanna Newsom coming to prominence in the music industry we may be witnessing the rise of the singer-songwriter yet again. Is this the end of a time period of forgettable music and generic lyrics?


The early seventies in Southern California epitomized a generation. The music of the time period holds weight and stands the test of time, never failing in delivering an eternal emotion. There is honesty, passion, and heavenly chords within this genre of music. The people who made it then are still revered today and the ones who are making it fresh are paving a similar path. The following is a playlist suggestion for “getting back to the garden” with help from old and new faces who are pure Laurel Canyon in spirit, as well as links to relevant information concerning the local muse.

PLAYLIST:

http://www.playlist.com/playlist/18393816075





Music and Mayhem in Laurel Canyon:



http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5778064



Laurel Canyon Association:



http://www.laurelcanyon.org/20cHist.html



The Return to Laurel Canyon:



http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/24761716/hot_scene_the_return_to_laurel_canyon

The Lost Girls

Forever and Everland with CocoRosie


Living the mantra, “create your own reality”, sisters Sierra and Bianca Casady have established in this realm, CocoRosie. This mish-mash of opera and hip-hop or as they refer to it, “like Puccini and Ol’ Dirty Bastard” is a captivating entity not only for the music itself, but the psychology of their style and creative process. The girls who were raised by eccentric parents who practiced Shamanism and Peyote religions must have gained something from their off-beat childhood. Whatever that ‘something’ was, we can only assume it to be enticing. In interviews, on stage, and through their lyrics, it is obvious that childhood is something the girls are still reveling in. Their lyrics seem as if written by a prophetic, seven year-old child prodigy who sat at her bedroom desk in her mother’s high heels and rouge while she waxed philosophical. Her imaginary friends might have included the Mad Hatter, Buddha, Peter Pan, and the members of Run D.M.C. At their concert this year in Pontiac Michigan, where I was able to get a first-hand look at their ‘madness’ the video montage included pictures of retro toys like My Little Pony mixed with metaphysical objects. Sierra sang interludes of Opera during many of the songs, creating a juxtaposition of feeling and artistry. Their freak flags flew as high as any interview I have seen on the Internet and they seemed genuinely immersed in a world that many would think to be false. Some lyrics actually contain linear elements with adult themes such as Jesus Loves Me.

“Jesus loves me
But not my wife
Not my nigger friends
Or their nigger lives
But Jesus loves me
That's for sure
'Cause the bible tells me so”

These girls may be great actresses. They may have an agenda and use their child play to pinpoint social and human flaws. They might simply be living as true artists where rules are out the window. They may be slaves to their genre of freak-folk. One thing can be certain. They have kept the best of childhood with their unbiased observation of life, sheer joy, awe, and innocent disregard for the mundane or expected. As their song Japan displays, most of us may have lost something important in the transition to adulthood. That alone, is worthy of your consideration.

Life is like a rollercoaster
It does flips and throws you over
Board your ship that’s going nowhere
If you stop, you’ll end up somewhere

Everybody wants to go to Japan
Everybody wants to go to Japan
Everybody wants to go to Japan
Everybody, just hold hands

Now everybody wants to go to California
To live their life on a sunny day
Dreaming of someone else’s kids and wife
But they'll be bringing you the same old strife

Everybody wants to go to Japan
Everybody wants to go to Japan
Everybody wants to go to Japan
Everybody, just hold hands

Everyone wants to go to Jamaica
Queens in drag will surely fake you
Take you home, and then they'll rape you
But you like it, so say 'thank you'

Everybody wants to go to Japan
Everybody wants to go to Japan
Everybody wants to go to Japan
Everybody, just hold hands

Everyone wants to go to Iraq
But once they go, they don’t come back
Bringing peanut butter jelly and other snacks
We might have our freedom, but we're still on crack

Everybody wants to go to Japan
Everybody wants to go to Japan
Everybody wants to go to Japan
Everybody, just hold hands!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgLBTwn-GP8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMyK2D05hU0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7RIHlT2h1k

Musical Savior or False Prophet?

The enigma that is Devendra Banhart

Brian Wilson met Jim Morrison in Heaven and then there was balance. What Will We Be, the new album from freak-folk phenom Devendra Banhart evokes the timelessness of the great seventies folk pioneers and the innovation of legendary rock gods. Its cosmic feel calls to mind the essence of Van Morrison’s masterpiece Astral Weeks with its ethereal and penetrating instrumentals paired with sonically soothing and mentally entrancing lyrics. Walilamdzi is an adult lullaby which captures the sweet hidden beauty of autumn in its 2 minutes of quiet texture. It is possibly the most seraphic piece of work in Banhart’s entire catalogue. Chin Chin & Muck Muck is an auditory jaunt from romantic jazz, through whimsical cabaret, to Morrison-esque poetry with a Spanish twist. Rats is full-on Morrison with elements of Glam Rock greats Marc Bolan and David Bowie thrown in the mix. It is a sexually charged sojourn that feels both titillating and childlike in its evocation of happiness. Foolin’ ends the record with a Caribbean-tinged romp seemingly guided by Donovan. With all these apparent influences are we to assume Banhart has any originality to his work? If a feeling could testify or if the soul could speak we might have the answer to this question.
With his mysterious beard, all too perfect birth name, and garments that every flower child only dreamed of, he is fully capable of being the god to the bohemian children, new and old, looking for any remnant of a time when music was powerful, enduring, and transformative. They are pleading for him to “braid exotic birds” in their hair.
Is he an innovator? Is he a sonic scientist? Some skeptics say 'no', while other critics and listeners are rejoicing. Perhaps he was a boy who, through his masks, found the key to the kingdom.
Which leaves us asking ourselves: Have we found our musical savior? Or a false prophet?

Read. Listen. Let your soul speak.



"Let's drink a toast to that same old feeling"

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.channel&contributorid=1894511

http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/30450584/review/30455317/what_will_we_be

http://www.myspace.com/devendrabanhart