M.I.A.: Is she for real? What's real? by Johno, July 15
Music is a powerful force and Johno here admirable tells the tale of one woman's drive to get from raw noise, to, well, less raw music. He writes, ... M.I.A.’s music amalgamates an entire world's beats into one exhilarating stew. Imagine a Sri Lankan woman from London rapping Jamaican dancehall style over Atlanta crunk spiced with Indian bhangra and you get the picture. Her debut single "Galang" is a rattling minor masterpiece that some people have hailed as the harbinger of a new era of world music. And it does seem that M.I.A.’s naïve newcomer approach has resulted in a truly “world” music that does not make distinctions between bhangra, crunk, baile, dancehall, and techno. ...
Remembering Harry the Hipster Gibson by RJ Eskow, July 15
I've never heard of this guy but he was Elvis before Elvis and 2 Live Crew before 2Live got freaky. (Well, sort of). RJ puts himself, if he doesn't mind me saying so, in a place of music history that most of us here were too young to know.
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BOOKS: Pat Cummings' picks of the week
Review: My Friend Leonard by Tim Gebhart, July 9
It's a challenge to capture the voice of an author who writes stream-of-consciousness. Tim has met this challenge with triumph in his review of James Frey's memoirs.
Review: The Washing Machine Money Laundering And Terrorist Financing Soils Us by Aaman Lamba, July 11
Aaman's in-depth review of Nick Kochan's book on the "global black economy" hits all the disturbing high points of the book's investigation into how the Russian Mafia, Al Queda, the IRA, and other global bad actors get funded.
Review: Zorro, A Novel by gypsyman, July 13
Gypsyman's somewhat-punny approach to Isabel Allende's telling of the Zorro back story enlivens both the tale of the mythical hero and Allende's literary gimmicks.
REF:Aaman - changed title, fixed italics
Article comments
1 - Aaman
Egad! Thanks dude. Some great posts here.
Temple, fixed the title
2 - gypsyman
Well thanks so much Pat. I didn't know you were in the pun police!! Seriously, thank you very much for the compliment. I feel sort of bad posting before you as you were supposed to be receiving a review copy(obviously not too bad as he went ahead and stole his thunder anyway).
What if proves to me though is that the people at blogcritics who do the editing are very cool and have mucho integrity.
thanks again
gypsyman
3 - J-sin
First Appeared in The Music Box, November 2004, Volume 11, #11 Written by Brad Podray
Sound Proof’s self-titled effort is a calm trip through a well-crafted landscape of organic sound, and on the whole, its songs, while simple, lack pretentiousness in any and all regards. Rather than attempting big budget drama that it likely can’t afford, the group clearly aimed at capturing a minimalist sound. However, where many have struggled with a similar approach, Sound Proof succeeds, utilizing its acoustic guitar accompaniments to punctuate the "laid back and chilled over ice" ambience of the entire album. There are touches of folk and Latin-tinged flourishes that grace the collection, and a faint echo of reminiscence hangs over many of the tunes. Tracks such as Jakeamya show off a heartfelt sentiment that is severely lacking in today's angst-y musical world, and with a sonic diversity that rumbles from power odes to head-bobbing grooves to harmonica showpieces, the album is chock-full of quality material. Granted, Sound Proof isn’t for everyone " it’s music is far too relaxed for that, but while no barriers are broken, none are left unexplored.