Archive for September, 2009.
Miley Cyrus is continuing her “I’m Grown Up Tour”. That’s not its actual name, but just what I’m calling it, because the theme of the tour is that she’s no longer a child star, but that she’s headed up into the ranks of more mature stars. The trick is that the teens are still looking up to her and see that she’s shifting into a much less wholesome style of music and dancing and it’s going to be tough for the parents to explain to those children what she’s doing. But meanwhile, the performances are really kind of fun, because there are some good songs. She’s also one of the best performers in the country right now, and she can sell her music and her style really well. Hopefully the strength and maturity that she shows in performing will get her through the difficult period that many younger performers have had when they make that transition.
There are several people singing Cole Porter songs at the moment, and one of the best is Karen Akers. Yes, there are some good ones out there, but her renditions are well done that it’s hard to beat. One of the biggest things is that she enunciates just right so that you can really hear what Porter was aiming for and enjoy the real witty style of lyrics that he was capable of doing. Porter is one of the funniest songwriters of the past century but also one of the most poignant, at the same time. Akers knows the style inside and out and she performs it the way it should be, although a little bit more clearly for a new audience, who might not be familiar with the music and might not be ready for the amount of verbiage in the show.
There is a cool article about how much talk radio has in common with rap. You might not have thought that a bunch of button up people would be easy to compare to gangster rap and that kind of thing. But the article looks at some of their biggest commonalities. One of the them is Ego. Rappers, like good talk radio hosts, all claim that they are the best, always lauding themselves and giving themselves lauds for their great abilities. They also will have a lot of rivals. Both groups claim that they have a lot of people who hate them in the world. Meanwhile, they also have feuds with their rivals in the business and make it a big deal in their various work. Then finally they both have great verbal skills, including rhyming or fast talking, etc. It’s an interesting article, and I think it’s just about right.
Mary Travers of Peter, Paul, and Mary, passed away this week due to complications from Leukemia. She was one of the best folk-rock musicians of the time, giving the future world lots of space for other musicians of that type, including Eric Clapton, James Taylor and others. The group was also a major influence in the protesting culture of the late 60s. This put them in some controversial positions amongst certain groups at the time, but they also showed great humanity in the causes that they chose, including the Civil Rights Movement and the Anti-War Movement. In some ways, they were near the center of all that movement and it helped move the world in a lot of ways.
Obviously The Beatles aren’t touring anymore. But we have run into the news that they have re-released all the Beatles’ old material. They have been arguing quite a bit about stereo vs mono over there and it’s been an interesting discussion. The music has been upgraded to digital and it will be very cool to listen to see if they’re a little different. Of course, you wont remember them being any other way other than the record, with all those great pops. You know that there’s that big pop sound in the second verse of that song, and such. But hearing it clean might be fun too. For the younger of you, you might want to check out Beatles: Rock Band, for the video game system. It will be kind of cool either way. No matter which you get, you’re going to have a ball, because this music is still really fun!
Jay-Z was in Chicago this past week, at the House of Blues, where he played a concert that was very nice. He was an entertaining musician and has been working his way through his repertoire. In some ways, it was a dress rehearsal for his big benefit concert on Friday at Madison Square Garden. He had a special backing band for himself and it was very nice. They are talented, but they were a little bit confusing for him, because for some of the songs, he’d never heard their backing before. But being the great improviser that he is, he was able to pull back into shape. He even added some new lyrics, including the addition of Oprah, who had shut down half the city with her live taping, and about the president. It was a fun evening of great hip hop that you will be glad to enjoy.
How about the ability of Beyonce, that great performer? She’s been one of the most respected people onstage for many years already. Why is that? It’s because she’s so good at what she does and has a lot of fun doing it. Her singing is great. Her songs are fantastic. But the real talent she has is her dancing. She obviously trained as a dancer, but she’s exceeded the wildest expectations on that count. Her shows this summer were quite a lot of fun and a lot of people made sure to go see her in person and have a great time too. No matter if you’ve been a fan of hers for years or just a short time, it’s going to be interesting to see what ends up happening.
Nine Inch Nails is retiring. Perhaps you already know that. This is a band that has been quiet over the last few years, but it’s going to be sad to see them go anyhow. They have been one of the best bands over the course of several decades and it’s going to be a lot of fun to see them one last time. Trent Reznor, the face of NIN, has decided to retire the band and they are doing a final tour of shows for people in places all over the country. But there’s a catch. They are playing almost entirely at small venues that people don’t really know much about and that this band could have sold out several times in a row. But they wanted to have their final shows a little more intimate. And they do a good job of showing the kind of music that this band has been playing over the many years that they have been out there. They have music from back to “The Crow” and their grunge music of the 90s and the alternative music that came right after. It’ll be very sad not to hear them put together new music. But we can also hope that they will bring it back sometime later. It’s not expected that they would do that, but it’s certainly possible!
