Showing posts with label glam rock. Show all posts
Showing posts with label glam rock. Show all posts

God Help The Girl Review

God Help The Girl
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God Help The Girl ReviewThis album is an absolute masterpiece of postmodern honesty - equal parts hope and despair, to spectacular result. The album has the same thrilling qualities many people might attribute to some of the best work of the Smiths or others who combine a healthy touch of 60s-70s baroque with silky smooth singing and dead clever lyrics. Some of Stuart Murdoch's most achingly sweet productions and melodies come to life here with the dreamily perfect smorgasbord of expertly executed female vocals and impressive musicianship as well. This is a film soundtrack that does not need a film. God, I wish I could see that film! Beautiful craftsmanship like this is sadly uncommon in modern popular music. This will be a delightful and simply fun classic for years to come.God Help The Girl OverviewAfter the success of the most recent Belle And Sebastian album, "The Life Pursuit", band leader/singer/songwriter Stuart Murdoch decided to pursue his dream of writing a rock musical scored for female singers. After auditioning vocalists via Internet contests, he made his choices and, with all members of Belle And Sebastian backing him up, recorded this breathtaking record. It combines the strengths and feel of early Belle And Sebastian records in a broader musical palette, which draws equally on musicals, 60s girl groups, 80s indie, and most of all, classic pop.

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More Than This: The Story of Roxy Music (2009) Review

More Than This: The Story of Roxy Music (2009)
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More Than This: The Story of Roxy Music (2009) ReviewThis is not a very good documentary and I agree mostly with Mr. Rubbo's review. I have trouble putting in words how disappointed I am with this disc. It's too short. Also, too many talking heads who have little to nothing to do with the band. Bono? Why? Simon Le Bon is unexcusable and insulting. Please don't take your hatred of DuranDuran out on Roxy Music! Roxy was very image conscious, but they could also play killer music. Bad interviewing techniques and bad editing are the ruination of the film. What is missing from this documentary is an analyses of that music. Discussions of the lyrical content is slim. "No one was writing lyrics like that...," comments one the talking heads. Begs the question what lyrics? The only real attempt is a disscussion of in "Every Dream Home...," which leaves me wanting for more. Ferry appears "inarticulate" in this film because the filmmakers did not give him enough time or good questions to work with. The hint at "what could have been" is a bonus clip where Ferry is actually given a good question, about his vocal style, and answers it in a sweet and sincere way. He mentions listening to Otis Redding and just singing until he found his own style. Unfortunately, they end it there. Surely, there were other influences, definitely Lou Reed (listen the song "Casanova" and especially the word "heroin"). But THEY DO NOT TALK ANYMORE ABOUT THE BAND'S INFLUENCES! Why is the vocals clip not in the body of the film? MAKE BRYAN FERRY TALK! He's singer/songwriter not an improv artist.
This goes for the rest of band. Andy MacKay and Phil Manzanera, in particular, are cursed by little time and bad interviewing. The few seconds of Mackay and Manzanera actually playing are good, but again, MORE! For example, how did Manzanera and MacKay's songwriting collaborations with Ferry work? What was the inspiration behind Manzanera's earthshattering solo on "Amazona? When did MacKay fell it was best to play oboe on one song, but saxophone on others? The documentary's chief sin is nearly skipping over the album "Siren." Yes,they flash the album cover and mention "Love Is A Drug," and the producer says, "We knew that was going to be a hit." For the 50th time, WHY? No mention that this song is one of the defining lyrical themes of the band: that romance is addictive and transitory. One night your with someone, the next night another, but it's just a buzz. It doesn't last. Ferry was able to sing about such subjects without self-pity or self-absorption and the band throbbed in time like a lovesick heart.
The reason I give this disc 2 stars is that I found the still photographs intriguing, although they never explain when the photographs were taken. My personal favorite is a black and white 70s era photograph with a beautiful woman sitting on Ferry's lap. Who is this woman? Also, I am only of those Roxy fans who enjoys the reunion tours that the band has done recently and the 2006 Dock Rock performances are brilliant. Roxy Music was never a "youthful band," they always sounded experienced and mature with their dexterity and ability to play together. Ferry was always sounded like a mature, man of the world even when he was 26. "I tried but I could not find the way/Looking back, all I did was look away" from (Remake/Remodel first track on the first album) and the chain of advice at the end of "Editions of You" especially "Old money's better than new/And don't let this happen to you." Ferry is a born performer, soulful, warm, funny and whips up everyone in his path. Manzanera and MacKay are still amazing especially on solos. What a rush! Why doesn't this documentary talk about Roxy as a live act? How did Ferry develop all those amazing hand gestures?
In the end, this disc is only for Roxy Addicts like myself. If you want to introduce someone to Roxy Music or show Roxy haters the errors of their ways, DO NOT show them this documentary. It gives a false image of the band. Saying that Roxy influenced DuranDuran and others who cared more about looks than singing, playing, and songwriting is a lot like holding The Who responsible for "Godspell." If you want to introduce someone to Roxy, play the Music in any format you have and let them decide for themselves. Maybe, "Siren" or "Stranded" for starters and go from there. Either that or play the youtube videos of the original BBCTV performance of "Virginia Plain" or the 1976 Stockholm concert footage of "The Thrill of It All." Such performances and others can be found on "The Thrill Of It All" DVD, which I recommend over this disc any day.More Than This: The Story of Roxy Music (2009) Overview

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Velvet Goldmine: Music From The Original Motion Picture Review

Velvet Goldmine: Music From The Original Motion Picture
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Velvet Goldmine: Music From The Original Motion Picture ReviewWe live in fictitious times where fictitious bands release fictitious albums. The movie VELVET GOLDMINE told the story of made-up rock stars, based in no small part upon the real lives of some of the more notable glam rockers of the late-60s and early-70s. The soundtrack therefore is split between fiction and reality (or as close to reality that glam got, which, to be honest, isn't that close). Many of the songs are taken from that era of rock, while the rest are modern (1998) recordings of both cover versions of songs from that time as well as recent writings done in that style.
This is one of my favorite albums, and I say that as a casual fan of both the original era and of the bands today that are heavily influenced by that musical genre. It's not meant to be a beginner's course in glam music, but it serves that purpose well anyway. We've got the dreamy, atmospheric, pretentious songs, the fast rockers, the goofy songs about spaceships, etc. This is great campy, fun music, and it's, as the CD case states "to be played at maximum volume". The modern recreations of the glam style are done extremely well. Since most of the bands were already heavily drinkers at the well of neo-glam (Pulp, that's you), presumably performing these songs weren't a stretch for them at all.
A lot of famous names from today's music scene pop up in the credits for this album. Thom York, better known as the little guy from Radiohead, sings on a few of the tracks performed by the Venus In Furs (one of the movie's fake bands; the name taken from The Velvet Underground song). And R.E.M. lead singer Michael Stipe is listed as producer.
An album that can be listened to all the way through without skipping substandard tracks is a rare thing indeed. What an album like that is also a soundtrack, it's almost a miracle. While this is a great overall CD, I will admit to fondness for some songs over others. A few times while driving home from work, I've repeated listening to Steve Harley's "Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me)" more times than is probably healthy and enough times that I would have received very odd looks had my fellow commuters been able to hear what I was up to.
Whether you're a fan of glam, or someone who would like to be, I think this is a great place to start. While the lack of any appearances by David Bowie himself does mean that the album lacks a major foundation in glam's short history (apparently he was planning his own semi-biographical film and wanted to focus on that instead), what's actually here is fantastic. Any album with Lou Reed's goofily surreal "Satellite of Love" on it is worth having, and I can recommend this to almost any rock fan who doesn't take music too seriously.Velvet Goldmine: Music From The Original Motion Picture Overview

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