All reviews - DVDs (3) - Books (1) - Music (121)

Review:

Posted : 1 year, 1 month ago on 12 July 2007 04:30 (A review of Phil Collins: A Life Less Ordinary [2002] (NTSC))

Phil Collins has been one of my musical heroes over the last 22 years. I personally have been a drummer for most of my life. Although it was Ringo Starr's drumming that got me started, it was Phil Collins that influenced me to stick with it.
What a pleasure it is to finally have a documentary released on this legendary talented figure. "A Life Less Ordinary" chronicles Phil's life-story from the time he was born up to the present day with his new wife, his new son and his latest album "Testify".
There are a few flaws with the documentary. Some important details are left out especially when discussing Genesis. Also, in the portion where Phil's child-acting days are discussed, nowhere is it mentioned that Phil was an extra in the Beatles film "A Hard Days Night".
However, the good outweighs the bad on this one. Besides interviews with Phil and his bandmates from both Genesis and his solo career, there are many interviews with Phil's family including his children, his brothers and sister, his mother and his new wife. In some cases, Phil's life story gets so personal, it's almost as if your there in the room with him. There are some very emotional moments such as Phil's family all being there when he won the Oscar for Disney's "Tarzan".
Besides this, there is plenty of Phil's music included here spanning his entire career from Flaming Youth, to Genesis, to Brand X, to his solo career, and the list goes on.
This documentary may be disappointing to some but it does provide an excellent overview of Phil Collins' life and music. Phil has truly been blessed with an extraordinary talent and has the success to prove it. With "A Life Less Ordinary", it's like finally being able to shake hands and sit down and chat with the man himself.

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Track Listing

Posted : 1 year, 1 month ago on 4 July 2007 07:03 (A review of 3 X 3)

1. Paperlate
2. You Might Recall
3. Me and Virgil

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Track listing

Posted : 1 year, 1 month ago on 4 July 2007 07:00 (A review of Spot the Pigeon)

1. Match of the Day
2. Pigeons
3. Inside and Out

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Track listing:

Posted : 1 year, 2 months ago on 19 June 2007 07:24 (A review of Three Sides Live)

Disc: 1
1. Turn It on Again [Live]
2. Dodo [Live]
3. Abacab [Live]
4. Behind the Lines [Live]
5. Duchess [Live]
6. Me & Sarah Jane [Live]
7. Follow You, Follow Me [Live]

Disc: 2
1. AfterGlow
2. Misunderstanding [Live]
3. In the Cage, Medley: Cinema Show/Slipperman [Live]
4. Afterglow [Live]
5. Paperlate
6. You Might Recall
7. Me and Virgil
8. Evidence of Autumn
9. Open Door




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Full track listing of CD:

Posted : 1 year, 2 months ago on 11 June 2007 04:14 (A review of The Fugitive)

1. This Is Love
2. Man Of Spells
3. And The Wheels Keep Turning
4. Say You'll Never Leave Me
5. Thirty Three's
6. By You
7. At The Edge Of Night
8. Charm
9. Moving Under
10. K2
11. Sometime Never

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Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger Review:

Posted : 1 year, 3 months ago on 15 May 2007 07:24 (A review of Discovery)

"Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" is a song by French duo Daft Punk first released on March 13, 2001. It is based on a sample of "Cola Bottle Baby" by Edwin Birdsong (as documented in the Discovery liner notes) and features a chanting robotic talk box vocal. The song's lyrics and title resemble a line from the famous opening narration for the television series The Six Million Dollar Man.

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Digital Love Review:

Posted : 1 year, 3 months ago on 15 May 2007 07:23 (A review of Discovery)

"Digital Love" is a song by electronic French duo Daft Punk. It was released as the third single from Discovery and charted backed with "Aerodynamic" due to equal club play.

The song was featured in a GAP commercial. It featured both members of Daft Punk wearing their robotic helmets and gloves as well as GAP denim shirts and jeans. They appeared dancing with Juliette Lewis.

Structure:

As documented in the Discovery liner notes, the song features a sample of "I Love You More" by George Duke. The sample was worked into an electronic pop song about unspoken love with lyrics by DJ Sneak and vocals performed by Daft Punk. The track is known for the guitar solo featured prominently on its second half. Thomas Bangalter revealed that the solo was created using a mixture of elements, aided by music sequencers. "No one plays solos in their songs anymore, but we wanted to include some on the album." An in-studio Wurlitzer piano was also utilized on the song's bridge section, creating a "Supertramp vibe" as described by Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo


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Aerodynamic Review:

Posted : 1 year, 3 months ago on 15 May 2007 07:21 (A review of Discovery)

"Aerodynamic" is an instrumental track by Daft Punk that is particularly well-known for its robotic guitar solo. It was the second single choice from Discovery for Daft Punk, who appeared to be releasing singles in the album's track order. It contains a sample of "Il Macquillage Lady" by Sister Sledge. Just as for '"One More Time", the sample is not credited in the Discovery liner notes.

The single only charted in Australia, and only for a week, at #50. Later on, the track hit the U.S. dance charts through club play as the B-side to "Digital Love".

The Slum Village remix of "Aerodynamic" (featured in Daft Club) is a hip hop track, and the only Daft Punk song to ever use profanity (though the essential themes of the remix are much more tame than typical hip hop).





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One More Time Review:

Posted : 1 year, 3 months ago on 15 May 2007 07:19 (A review of Discovery)

"One More Time" is a single by Daft Punk first released on December 5, 2000 and later included in the album Discovery. The song's vocal performance by Romanthony is heavily auto-tuned and compressed. As part of the album, the track is featured in the introduction to the film Interstella 5555. "One More Time" was the first Daft Punk single to hit the American Top 40 and remains their biggest commercial hit to date.

Structure:

The track prominently features a vocal performance by Romanthony. As stated by Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, "we thought the funkiness of his voice fit the funkiness of the music." The song's vocal features heavy processing and auto-tuning. When questioned on the effects, Thomas Bangalter stated "A lot of people complain about musicians using Auto-Tune. It reminds me of the late '70s when musicians in France tried to ban the synthesizer... What they didn't see was that you could use those tools in a new way instead of just for replacing the instruments that came before." According to Bangalter, Romanthony enjoyed the alterations to his vocal on the track. "He has done a lot of different things and he always tries to innovate, which is what we like to do on our records. He never had his voice treated like an instrument like that."

The song also contains a sample from "More Spell On You" by Eddie Johns, but this is not credited in the Discovery liner notes.


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Discovery Review:

Posted : 1 year, 3 months ago on 15 May 2007 07:15 (A review of Discovery)

Discovery is the 2001 second album by Daft Punk. It marks a shift in the sound from the Chicago house, that they were previously known for, to disco and synthpop styles, a notably jarring move for fans of Homework. The immediate change in aesthetic initially caused some critics to pan the album, but it would eventually gain praise in later years. The album also provided itself as a soundtrack to the anime film Interstella 5555 and has sold at least 1.8 million copies as of 2003.

Two cult hits were spawned from this album: "One More Time" (featuring Romanthony), and "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger". The song "Face to Face" (featuring Todd Edwards) reached #1 on the Billboard Club chart in 2004.

Theme:

The name of the album has been interpreted as "disco very" due to the album having a disco feeling.[citation needed] However, according to an interview with Remix Magazine Online, Thomas Bangalter states:

“This album has a lot to do with our childhood and the memories of the state we were in at that stage of our lives. It's about our personal relationship to that time. It's less of a tribute to the music from 1975 to 1985 as an era, and more about focusing on the time when we were zero to ten years old. When you're a child you don't judge or analyze music. You just like it because you like it. You're not concerned with whether it's cool or not. Sometimes you might relate to just one thing in a song, such as the guitar sound. This album takes a playful, fun, and colorful look at music. It's about the idea of looking at something with an open mind and not asking too many questions. It's about the true, simple, and honest relationship you have with music when you're open to your own feelings.”

A significant amount of sampling is present on this album. The sampled tracks reinforce Thomas Bangalter's statement about Discovery's theme. Rather than simply creating new music out of the samples, Daft Punk actually worked with them by writing and adding instrumental performance. The use and clearance for the samples of "I Love You More", "Cola Bottle Baby", "Can You Imagine" and "Who's Been Sleeping In My Bed" are documented in the Discovery liner notes.

Song Sample used in song
"One More Time" "More Spell On You" by Eddie Johns
"Aerodynamic" "Il Macquillage Lady" by Sister Sledge
"Digital Love" "I Love You More" by George Duke
"Harder Better Faster Stronger" "Cola Bottle Baby" by Edwin Birdsong
"Crescendolls" "Can You Imagine" by The Imperials
"Superheroes" "Who's Been Sleeping In My Bed" by Barry Manilow
"Veridis Quo" "Supernature" by Cerrone




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