Music Music Music

[poorpete]

326. Lady Marmalade: The Best of Patti & Labelle

She good! I want to go back and listen to a few Labelle albums, but that'll have to wait until 2018. Not everything here is A+, but what was were pretty unbeatable. There were three songs I listened to about a half-dozen times over and over. Isn't it a Shame, Quiet Time, and this wonderfully funky monstrosity:

[Ronster]

Gets me through every day ...just thinking about it...

[Phoebe]

Ugh, so off track that I can't remember what album number I'm on, but I got in at least three today, with lots of potential time left! This weekend could be a big one for albums. All the pre-holiday days when you're running around at home, those are great...

Today was The Bodyguard Soundtrack, which of course features Whitney Houston. I haven't heard some of these in so long, it was like hearing anew again. Her voice is absolutely astounding, and the subtlety with which she learned to wield it is just as impressive. I didn't really like the songs she wasn't involved in, but there are four monsters on this one: I Have Nothing (gimmicky but damn effective gimmicks), I Will Always Love You, Queen of the Night (which I had forgotten existed), and I'm Every Woman (a remake that manages to celebrate the original, so you want to go on listening to both). There's also a surprising (to me) remake of Lovely Day with some additions, and I liked it, glad to discover. I have never actually SEEN the Bodyguard, so... My husband loves it. This amuses me - it's better if I never see it, in a way. For humor.

Then I listened to something called "Science Fiction" by Brand New. Had some trouble knowing which was band and which was album. Didn't matter; I didn't like it at all. Bleagh.

To cleanse myself and engage in a little comparative evaluation, I then listened to the 2017 Celine Dion Greatest Hits album. I absolutely love Celine, there's no way around it. I suppose it's possible people might not like the particular sound of her voice, as that happens, but it's such a voice! Such a voice. And she unabashedly sings all these ridiculous things with full commitment. It's like ABBA! Same deal. Anyway, I think Whitney really does have a better voice, if we just go by these two points of comparison. But Celine is unique and so different in style, it's hard to compare meaningfully. It is terrible what happened to Whitney. I wish we had more good music from her - it would be nice to have more of the two of them singing together, frankly. Nowadays people seem to think that Beyonce and Ariana Grande are in this weight class. Uh, no. Beyonce makes really creative, good stuff but it's not singing like Whitney and Celine. The other one doesn't even merit further dismissal.

[poorpete]

I agree, Whitney has the better voice, though I've come to respect Celine after listening to "Falling into You" last month.

Powerhouse singers of decades:
60s Aretha
70s Patti Labelle
80s Whitney
90s Celine? Mariah?
00s Amy Winehouse?
10s Adele, baby! Hands down.

[Phoebe]

Next, the new Evanescence album. Still don't know what number I'm on exactly. This album seems to be some sort of reworking of a bunch of their old music, but it's still all the same sort of music. The down side is just that: all their songs kind of sound the same, and the overwhelming bombast and howling of it all left me with a bit of a headache. Someone has had an epic breakup and descended therefrom into some ongoing continuing hell, and there are going to be accompanying strings and she's going to be anguishing very dramatically. So there you go. But they do such a good job with this formula! My tolerance for loud emotive lady singing may be reduced somewhat by stacking this listen atop Celine Dion and Whitney Houston. I enjoyed the first track with its nice piano intro, and the last one which is (relief) a little different from the others, and much of the in-between:

[Phoebe]

Spent the day listening to albums by big singers. Spent an hour trapped in grocery store hell with the following song pounding insistently through the mind (and embarrassingly found myself singing it under my breath like some sort of mind-controlled puppet - who was responsible for this, damn it!?):
If you're gonna play in Texas, ya gotta have a fiddle in the band...
That lead guitar is hot but not for a Louisiana mannnnn!

How does my brain even learn this s***?

[Phoebe]

HEY!!!



Released June 2017. Is it just me?

[poorpete]

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/grammy-nominations-2018/

Grammy for best Album, hmmm.

Awaken, My Love!" - Childish Gambino
4:44 - Jay Z
DAMN. - Kendrick Lamar
Melodrama - Lorde
24K Magic - Bruno Mars

1. Will have to fast-track Glover's and Bruno's album to get an appropriate opinion. I honestly heard no peep about these albums or their quality over the last 331 days.
2. As expected, DAMN and Melodrama were on here, those would have been serious snubs. I think DAMN has the momentum, but the last two winners were Taylor and Adele, so if i bet, I'd bet Lorde.
3. No St. Vincent? No St. Vincent?! Even for best alternative album? How is this possible?
4. My other favs by Valerie June and Sampha shut out.
5. If Jay-Z wins for saying "I'm sorry for cheating" in a good album after Beyonce didn't win last year for her opus, it will be further proof that the patriarchy prefers giving men second chances over giving women one.
6. People making big deal over no white men being nominated here. My list would have had none either.

[Ronster]

[Ronster]

and a belated Good Mornin' to all

[Ronster]

and for the earworm of the day

[Phoebe]

Ron, you have given us that one before, and thankfully its powers have waned in the interim!

Kabalevsky:

[akiva]

I just recently discovered this, and wow!

[Walrus]

Every now and then I come across a band or artist that is new to me ....
Recently I came across Alestorm in the form of
https://youtu.be/ta-Z_psXODw

And was tipped from mildly interested into love by
https://youtu.be/th4Czv1j3F8

I will return in a bit and share what I have been listening to before these guys!

[Phoebe]

We once had another Australian here, and this reminds me of him. Well I take that back I think we had a couple of them. There was a large medieval one that I liked.

[poorpete]

I'll have more thoughts soon, and more work to do that I gave myself after Jan 1 2017, but the base challenge of listening to 365 albums this year is complete!

[Phoebe]

Wow! Congratulations! We have learned much from your journey, too!

[poorpete]

Hehe thanks!

347. Grace Jones - Nightclubbing

A few years ago I got irritated not knowing that the small town I live in was home to a thriving open mic comedy show in the 70s that produced Barry Crimmins, Bobcat Goldthwait, and Tom Kenny. Now I'm irritated that I had no idea Grace Jones grew up and went to college nearby too, and that I heard none of her music until now, and, at least this album, it's great.

Love this for the Talking Heads-like percussion of this song, the catchy hoods, and how secretly dirty this song is, or not! It could be just about traffic.

[Phoebe]

Ooof that rebel just for kicks song is in my head; letting it go on the car radio is risky!

[poorpete]

341. D'Angelo - Voodoo

D'Angelo's finest album is a bridge uniting the sweet soul of 1995's "Brown Sugar" with the experimental craftsmanship of his 2014s "Black Messiah". Sure there's a bunch of fun sexy songs, fun hip hop songs, but two songs in particular are masterworks, the finale "Africa" and this