music-and-concert-reviews-you-wont-see-anywhere-else
Still Not the Average Girl in the Video: india.arie’sTestimony Vol. 2
From the moment she strolled onto the scene crooning that she was not your average girl in the video, india.arie has cultivated an image slightly different from your average 21st century R&B singer. For one, she plays guitar, placing her in the teeny tiny club of female soul singers who can play an instrument. Second, she’s never had any interests other than following her own muse. Her trend-jumping has been minimal, and you get the […]
FORTY-FIVE REVOLUTIONS PER MINUTE #25: Gentlemen Prefer Blondie
STEELY DANÂ “Peg” b/w “I Got The News” (ABC Records #12320, September 1977)
As much as I love lo-fi bands that can’t play their instruments, I also go totally Star Trek for impeccably-produced prog and jazz acts with serious chops and boss material. No American duo better encompassed this phenomenon, mixing in plenty of post-’60’s LA-outsider snark while at it, than Donald Fagen and Walter Becker, the core of Steely Dan. Nevermind the details, “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number” […]
“Destiny” and “Triumph”: The Maturation of Michael Jackson
When people talk about the career of Michael Jackson, a lot of them forget the period between the Jackson 5’s amazing original success and the time Michael went supernova with “Off the Wallâ€. The reasons for that are somewhat valid. The hits weren’t exactly plentiful during that period, and Michael and his brothers were struggling to find their artistic identity. However, one shouldn’t give The Jacksons (as they were named following their departure from Motown […]