People have changed the way they accumulate popular music. Now Google Play, Zune, I-Tunes and Amazon control massive amounts of music. Phone carriers such as Boost mobile and Verizon have their own applications that are pre-loaded and give the consumer access to tens of thousands (or millions of songs) and you have the option to purchase an entire album, or only particular songs of your favorite artist. You can get a $20 gift card from I-Tunes. If you purchase Amazon Prime (a year membership for $79) you can stream a limited catalog of books, music, movies, video games and television programs. In the vernacular of the holidays, Hallelujah!
Thank god for true believers who still create small hubs and juke joints across the world that support original music – the real thing. In today’s turgid market everybody loses, as the original grooves, riffs and rhythms have been co-opted, pre-empted, recycled. The genre does not matter - Country, Pop, Indie, Hip Hop, Rock, Blues and Jazz. It’s all blended into a Katy Perry/Miley Cyrus/Taylor Swift crossroads that even has the devil sputtering, “There ain’t no soul here worth eternal damnation” and the Good Lord just shakes his head, sighs and walks over to another Karaoke bar.
So let’s begin with the most satisfying and articulate pop songs released in 2013. The artist known as Lorde is a 17-year old phenomenon who sings like a mature artist, fully formed after crackin’ open the egg. At first I thought she was channeling Marianne Faithful with an impudence of a long struggling & tortured artist who finally made it after years of drugs and hooking. I missed the mark by about three lines and a pint of Guinness – Denny Laine would be impressed. Lorde has a precocious talent that could take her to the top and she has enough balls to take a swing at the class system in New Zealand (and elsewhere). She released her first statewide LP Pure Heroine on September 30th, 2013 to rave reviews. Buy this now. It’s available everywhere
is doing pretty well for a long dead rock icon. His last pre-exploitive release was Band of Gypsys in 1970. Since 2010 Legacy Recordings and Experience Hendrix LLC started the Jimi Hendrix Catalog Project beginning with the release of the well-received LP Valleys of Neptune. Legacy followed up with the release of deluxe CD/DVD editions of the all the Hendrix albums. This led to the 2013 Experience Hendrix\Legacy release of People, Hell and Angels. It is # 1 in sales at Amazon.com. It reveals Hendrix in a half formed vision, expanding his horizons as a singer and songwriter as well as a guitar god. Check out Amazon.com
Eric BurdonBut wait…there are a few Michigan rockers that are back in the news. First off is Iggy & the Stooges Ready To Die. It captures Iggy, Ron Asheton and James Williamson in 1977 wide-awake and alive with razor sharp riffs and Iggy’s great blues/punk vocals. The rhythms are simple and powerful, like the Troggs. Job is a hail out to the working class stiffs who are trying just to get by – great song. This is a must have for anyone who loves Michigan Rock in its heyday. Amazon.com
In November 2013 Wagner gathered a group of highly regarded musicians and singers, consisting mainly of some old buddies and named them Rockers For St. Jude. Wagner wrote and produced the song entitled If I Could Find the Time (I Could Change the World). The song is a winner: great lyrics and a great performance. Wagner switched off lead vocals with Trini Lopez (remember him?), Mark Farner - great performance, what a voice! Saginaw’s own Laurie Beebe Lewis (Pitche Blende, Mamas & Papas) also shared lead vocals. The song is available now on digital down load sites across the world and fifty cents per each download will go to St Jude’s Research Hospital. Give it a listen because it’s a great song.
Big Brother SmokesFinally, it is Tim Avram’s turn in the spotlight. His fortunes have waxed and waned but he’s never given-in or retreated. He was the focal point for the Mongrels and has performed solo shows for several years combining wicked renditions of popular songs with quirky off-the wall originals that mixed humor with pathos and left fans wondering what the hell did he just say and why am I laughing. But today is a time of reckoning when it’s all starting to make sense and Avram is able to find his voice in the back of his throat.
Like my old friend Marx once said to a girlfriend, “It might hurt a little but I think you’ll like it.”
ntsC� e�r �to great performance by Depp as the Masked Man’s faithful Indian companion. Some critics grumbled that the producers should have found a Native American to fill the role, but Depp claims to have Indian ancestors and that he wanted to reverse the traditional formula and give the lead in the movie to Tonto. It made for a refreshing change and a fine movie - not one expected to win a bucket full of awards, but an enjoyable time at the movies. Hopefully that will be revealed to movie lovers who check it out on DVD.
This is the End
Josh Rogan and his writing and producing partner Evan Goldberg served up a hilarious apocalyptic comedy featuring Rogan and many of his real life actor friends playing comedic versions of themselves.
As Rogan and friends gather at a party, outside their imminent circle and vision of merrymaking, the end of the world is taking place, which the friends are slow to admit until they start to see people ascending to heaven in shafts of bright light. And since only good-hearted believers are going to Heaven, what chance do Hollywood actors have? Not much, apparently.
It's rare to see a comedy with earthshaking special effects, and This is the End did an excellent job of pacing the film, alternating hilarious comic scenes with scenes of cosmic catastrophes. Plus the film took us all the way to the Pearly Gates, offering up a glimpse of what Rogan and Goldberg imagine Heaven is like.
pt; ms�1 d-�(n �
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=�m om�Like withered leaves to quicken a new birth!
Scatter, as from an unextinguished hearth
<span style="font-size:10.0pt;Times New Roman" "="">Ashes and sparks, my words among mankind!
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Dec 05, 2013
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