HC Reviews

Trapped In The Closet

R. Kelly .... Sylvester
Cat Wilson .... Gwendolyn
Eric Lane .... Twan

Rolando Boyce .... Rufus
LeShay N. Tomlinson .... Cathy
Malik Middleton .... Chuck

Michael K. Williams .... James
Drevon Cooks .... Big Man
Rebecca Field .... Bridget

LaDonna Tittle .... Rosie

How do I start a review Trapped In The Closet when I can't decide if the category should be music or tv or movie? I'm leaving it under music because it is, as described by R. Kelly and the Director of the videos, a "hip-hopera."

When you watch this, you certainly aren't expecting a masterpiece of musical drama (like you would if you were watching Les Miz or Evita) because, let's face it, it's R. Kelly. But this is so entertaining because it's extraordinarily bad and cheesy!

The whole narrative is sung by R. Kelly. And by whole, I mean EVERYTHING. And by sung, I mean making up the melody as he goes along. I could understand him singing the whole thing if this were meant only to be listened to but as it's a visual media as well, I don't get why he has to tell you certain things.

However, the fact that he "plays" all the characters in song and narrates every move anybody makes is what elevates this piece to heights of hilariousness. Seriously. Because R. Kelly had to write rhyming couplets, the whole thing is so simple and unintentionally funny. And everyone plays their characters so straight that it's even more ridiculous.

So far, he only has 12 Chapters of the musical drama completed and the whole thing takes about an hour to watch, if you don't stop to laugh or to ask questions of your friends. And really, you must watch it with a friend or two. If you Netflix it though, be forewarned. It took me FOREVER to get it (A Very Long Wait, according to them and they weren't kidding).

Pussycat Dolls - PCD

Taken from About.com:

The Pussycat Dolls began as an all-female burlesque group created by choreographer Robin Antin (sister of hair guru Jonathan Antin) in 1993. Their first live performance took place at the Viper Room in Los Angeles in 1995. Carmen Electra was one of the lead dancers. The Pussycat Dolls' stage act has always followed the classic tradition of burlesque, a sexual performance that focuses on tease, humor and innuendo instead of raunchy sex and bare flesh.

In late 2003 Robin Antin decided to start from scratch and conducted open auditions to create a new troupe of Pussycat Dolls that would ultimately be part of a musical project. Nicole Kea (aka Scherzinger), formerly of the band Eden's Crush, winners of Popstars, an American Idol precursor, became the group's lead vocalist. Music business veteran Jimmy Iovine was brought in as an executive producer alongside Antin and A&M Records president Ron Fair.

In April 2005 the Pussycat Dolls took their next steps forward in the entertainment business. The Pussycat Dolls Lounge at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas was opened as a permanent venue for the Pussycat Dolls stage act.

I love danceable pop music. But when I first saw the video for Don't Cha? I was all set to not really like the PCD. I mean, it's a bunch of skinny girls dressed like 'ho's, singing about how some guy should wish his girlfriend was like them. However, the beat really got me and when I listened to the lyrics, I was pleasantly surprised.

Before I commit to buying a CD for a band or artist, I wait until 2 or more songs are released. I have way too many CDs in my collection in which I bought the CD based on one song and hate every other song on the CD (Blind Melon and Deep Blue Something, I'm looking right at you!). I wasn't too thrilled with Stickwitu, as it's a sappy ballad, but then I saw a video on Yahoo Videos for Beep and I knew I had to get the CD at some point. Which I did while I was at Target a few days ago.

Having already heard 3 songs from the CD, I was hoping the rest of the CD was as fun. I wasn't disappointed. This is a fun little pop/dance album. With the exception of 3 (maybe 4) songs (Stickwitu, Feelin' Good, How Many Lies/How Many Times, and possibly Tainted Love), all the songs have a good beat and you can dance to them. HML/HMT, Feelin' Good (a song from the 60s that's been remade by various artists - most recently by Michael Bublé) and Tainted Love (a remake of the Soft Cell song) have good beats but are much slower and therefore not really danceable. There's a kicky little number called Right Now that's an original song but very reminiscent of the 60s jazzy/London pop sound.

Lyrically, the songs are pretty basic and somewhat shallow. The majority of the themes in the songs are about guy/girl dynamics and relationships. But at least they don't sound like poems written by some angsty 10th grader in her private journal (**coughnewMadonnaCDcough**).

I generally judge a CD by how many songs I skip over to get to the songs I really like. With this CD, I only skip over one song (Stickwitu).

If you get a chance, you should give it a listen.

Music: Infected Mushroom

It's been years and YEARS and years since I've done any sort of music review so I'm really out of place and I'm covering a genre I'm not all too familiar with but I like to jump in the deep end and swim with sharks. They've got pretty teeth and can eat stuff like toasters, and goats and stuff.

That said.

You'll like these guys cos I tell you to.

Or you can suck it.

Israli Psycadelic Trance.

That's the best way to describe these guys.

From what I gather they're big in the Electronic scene. My boyfriend makes some of his own stuff and explained some of the techniques these guys use to produce their albums and it was WAYYYY over my head. I'm talking WHOAH! WTF is happening here where'd that come from huh?

Their Discography so far goes as thus:

* The Gathering (1999)
* Classical Mushroom (2000)
* BP Empire (2001)
* Converting Vegetarians (2003)
* IM The Supervisor (2004)

I've got their Converting Vegetarians release and have heard a bunch of their other stuff and lemme tell you this aint no teenybopper hip hop techno bullshit. this stuff's pretty danged awesome. It's artistic and techno and trance and freakin' cool.

I only wish our big ole hobbit-sized speakers *BOTH* worked cos their surround sound capabilities is worth blasting and annoying neighbours and getting the cops called on your house and the fine you'll get for noise complaints should get put up on the refrigerator.

I think they can get hired out for events like Goa parties and their live shows will tear you apart.

I only wish I had been more involved in the electronic music scene more in my past because this as well as some of my following reviews won't do anyone justice.

If anything... take a chance and dowload their Converting Vegetarian's song. And maybe check out their official website if you're intrigued.

I'll make you work for that one.

x

Love.Music.Angel.Baby by Gwen Stefani

Anytime I've ever bought a CD because I've liked one song, it's usually come back to bite me on the ass (Blind Melon, Deep Blue Something, and Marcy's Playground, I'm looking at y'all!).

I wasn't totally in love with What You Waiting For?. It's catchy and dance-poppy, but it's hard to understand what she's saying (she's worried about her solo career) and the lyrics seem repetitive.

So I waited to hear the next single before I decided whether or not to buy the album. The next song released was Rich Girl (with Stefani's female rap singer of choice, Eve) and I found it to be much more catchy and kitschy than the first song, but just as repetitive.

That didn't stop me from buying the album though and I have to say that I am enjoying it. Not every song, hence the 2 pitchforks, but the majority of them.

The first 3 songs on the album (What You Waiting For, Rich Girl, and Hollaback Girl) are the first 3 songs released onto the airwaves. Hollaback Girl sounds very much like a song you'd see at a Step Show. The lyrics are all about how she's heard you talking shit about her and she's not down with that so she's gonna take care of you behind the bleachers.

If you've ever seen the Behind the Music on No Doubt, then you know that Gwen likes to put her feelings about stuff that's going on in her life into her songs. That hasn't changed. Cool talks about her relationship with her former boyfriend and band mate, Tony Kanal. Danger Zone, while it doesn't come right out and say, is about her marriage to Gavin Rossdale of Bush and the secrets he had before they were a couple (like the fact that he had a daughter with another woman, which to be fair, he didn't know either, so it's not as if he deliberately kept the secret from Gwen).

Luxurious and Harajuku Girls represent the slow side of Stefani. Luxurious is very R&B sounding with a bit of electronica thrown in. Harajuku Girls is her ode to the Tokyo subculture that inspired her new clothing line, L.A.M.B.

I usually skip over The Real Thing because it just doesn't grab me.

Serious is more dance, less pop, and very Kylie Minogue sounding. In fact, when I first was listening to the CD, I almost thought I had my Kylie CD in and had to double check to make sure I didn't.

Crash and Bubble Pop Electric are songs about having sex in cars. Or cars as metaphors for sex. Or something like that.

Long Way to Go is Gwen's collaboration with Andre 3000. It's a Song With A Serious Message ™ set to a dance beat.

Overall, an enjoyable album and a good job for her first solo effort.

Texas - The Hush

Here's an old music review I found that I did for Amazon a few years ago.

Put simply, "The Hush" is a brilliant album. Texas re-invented themselves with their last effort, "White On Blonde", and this new collection continues with that great new sound. Almost every song could be a single. Sharleen's voice has never sounded better, becoming heart-breaking on the lyric "I love you to death" from "Saint". The album kicks off with the first single "In Our Lifetime", which reached number 4 in the UK. The song really grows on you, with the Oriental feel and the last chorus sounds like a hundred Sharleens on harmony vocals. Then comes the Prince-like "Tell Me The Answer". I have to admit that I didn't really like this song at first but, after repeated listening, it's now one of my favourite tracks. Sharleen sings falsetto and the song just has a really groovy (sorry - I couldn't think of a better word) feel to it. The chorus is sure to be a sing-along in concert with its "come on, come on, come on" refrain. "Summer Son" is going to be the next single and it's not hard to see why. It's a rocker with a disco beat (it could almost be Blondie" with low vocals from Sharleen this time. "Sunday Afternoon" and "Move In" are swaying, soulful songs and the breathless backing vocals make them sexy. "When We Are Together" picks up the pace again and has a Motown feel to it. "Day After Day" is another one of those 'groovy' songs. Then there's a brief instrumental interlude in the form of "Zero Zero" which sounds like something else but I can't put my finger on it. "Saint" is easily the most beautiful soung on the album (yes, I'm a sucker for slow, love songs!). The chorus to "Girl" sounds a bit like Lauryn Hill's "Doo Wop (ThatThing)" but that's no bad thing. The title track is perhaps the only song that wouldn't make it as a single, although the harp is a nice touch. The album ends with "The Day Before I Went Away" which is a beautiful leaving song with space sound effects. The playing on the album is faultless, as usual. Highly recommended.

Music Review- Barricades and Brickwalls

Kasey Chambers is a young singer out of Australia. Officially, her genre is considered ‘alternative country’ but really, its hard to put a name to her music. Her music appeals to a wide variety, from my country-avoiding fiancé to my eleven-year-old daughter, all the way down to my mom, who is something of a country purist. I first heard of her a couple years ago and after being haunted by her quirky voice, I broke down and bought one of her CDs, “Barricades and Brickwalls” and I’m so happy I did. First, let’s talk about her voice. When I first heard her, I thought she was very young, 14 at the most but as you listen to her music, the intensity and passion of her voice and her words, you realize she’s not as young as she initially sounded (she’s in her mid-twenties).

Lyrics aside for a moment, Kasey sings as if she is really enjoying what she’s doing, as if she is putting her heart and soul into her music. Because of this, you really feel the music. Put yourself into an empty room, close your eyes and put on this CD and experience her sadness when she sings of missing her hometown or not being pretty enough.

Lyrically, Kasey Chambers is a wonder. At times (on the song “Crossfire”, for example), her lyrics are challenging, often prompting my fiancé to admit, “I have no idea what she’s talking about.” But at other times (such as “Not Pretty Enough” or “A Little Bit Lonesome”) her lyrics are simple and haunting, putting passion into everyday feelings. To her credit, all thirteen of the songs on the album were written by Kasey herself.

As for genre, “Barricades and Brickwalls” is hard to pin down. Some of the songs, such as “A Little Bit Lonesome” and “Not Pretty Enough” have a very country bluegrass feel while Kasey rocks out a bit on “Crossfire” and the title track. “Nullarbor Song”, which Kasey penned in honor of the Nullarbor Plains in Australia, has a very Loreena McKennitt feel to it.

I give “Barricades and Brickwalls” 5 out of 5 stars.

Music Review - Spider-man Score

For the superheros in film, there is one man who writes the soundtrack to accompany their story. That man, is Danny Elfman.

Elfman, who made a name for himself with the inception of Batman (directed by Tim Burton), has become well known for composing a theme for each superhero. Contrary to other composers out there, all of the characters in the film have their own theme. Not just our hero.

Example: Batman Returns. Theme for Batman, theme for Catwoman, and yet another theme for Penguin. If there was a theme for poor Alfred, I wouldn't be surprised.

So, the question is: Can Elfman establish a fresh new theme for yet another superhero?

The answer, of course, is 'yes'. But it appears that Elfman's learned a thing or two since his stint on Batman. His themes for each character: a slow moving violin, backed up by piano and solo flute for Mary Jane. Tender strings for moments with Uncle Ben and Aunt May. Hard brass and dueling basslines for Goblin.

In addition to his multi-themed score, Elfman has branched out a bit from the Batman era and implemented more percussion and more synthesizers. Being from a classical school, I don't think that synthesizers have any place in a score, and I assume that Elfman would agree. However, he uses them so subtly, that rather than drawing attention from the orchestra, they add to it.

The percussive heartbeat of the main theme rouses the senses...a sense of excitement, pride. The recipe for a good hero soundtrack.

Mr Elfman does it again! Revamping the Spider-man score for Spider-man 2...but that's another review for another time.

5 o'o 5