Category: reviews

audio review : We Got Love ( song ) … Teyana Taylor

What’s missing on the official version of this song is Kanye West’s melodic ad-libs from the demo. It didn’t really make sense for him to back only Teyana Taylor’s first verse; the second verse would’ve been better; but instead of being moved, he’s cut from the song entirely.

Still the best parts aren’t Teyana Taylor’s. That little scream she does after “Home is where the heart is” sounds mildly annoying. It’s the music she’s rapping to I like the most. What I Love is the ending where Lauryn Hill does a bombastic monologue over gorgeous synth chords.

my rating : 4 of 5

2019

audio review : Comfort And Joy ( EP ) … Tinashe

audio review : Comfort And Joy ( EP ) ... Tinashe

There are few things as corny and cliché as people singing traditional Christmas songs. Sex toy Tinashe is no exception. At least this isn’t a full album. Not that there aren’t any good renditions.

Merry Gentlemen, from which the set title is inspired, and The Christmas Song sound nice. Most of the others do better as background music while wrapping gifts or drinking eggnog.

my rating : 3 of 5

2020

video review : Basket Case 2

video review : Basket Case 2

Basket Case, as technically flawed as it may be, is rather engrossing. This sequel, which should’ve never been made; there’s simply no good reason to continue the story; is a joke. My main complaint with the first one was that it didn’t take itself more seriously. Part 2 crawls even further astray.

The tone here is more of a bad TV show than a horror movie. “The Times Square freak twins” are back, but all they do is ruin their mystique. That’s especially true for Belial, who, in a plot that has him and his brother living with other abnormals, is no longer the freakiest in the room.

my rating : 1 of 5

1990

video review : Basket Case

video review : Basket Case

This horror flick, some scenes of which might even be nightmare-inducing, would be good if the characterization wasn’t so bad. That comes in the form of misplaced comedy, underacting; the protagonist is as wooden as that Basket he carries around; and overacting. People scream a lot in this movie.

The plot has Duane, a newcomer to New York City, helping his formerly conjoined twin brother; a little freakishly deformed “monster”; get revenge on (kill) the people responsible for separating them. It’s a quirky and campy concept that, while engrossing, would be better if it took itself a bit more seriously.

my rating : 3 of 5

1982

audio review : Basket Case [ Original Motion Picture Soundtrack ]
video review : Basket Case 2

Barber’s Eggnog

Barber's Eggnog

I don’t know who Barber is; their distributor is Prairie Farms Dairy in Illinois; but they make some good eggnog. If there’s a complaint, it’s that it could (should) be a little thicker, but even that isn’t a problem if you’re drinking it with a mouthful of graham crackers like I do. Consider it an early Christmas gift. “Season’s greetings” indeed.

my rating : 4 of 5

audio review : Remembrance Days ( album ) … The Dream Academy

audio review : Remembrance Days ( album ) ... The Dream Academy

If this is music to Reminisce to, as the title suggests, it’s music you’ll probably fall asleep to while doing it, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The soothing vocals of Nick Laird-Clowes inspire moods of solemnity and serenity.

These songs might be better without all the glossy production, but you’ll have a hard time finding a weed among them. The end of Here; a lullaby about home; is quite nice, along with Everybody’s Gotta Learn and Power To Believe.

my rating : 3 of 5

1987

video review : Species

video review : Species

A pretty female whose main goal is to “find a man” to have sex with seems like a dream come true, but she’s more of a nightmare; a killer space alien looking to breed so that her Species can take over the planet. The plot is a game of cat and rat as she saunters LA, looking for a sperm donor.

On her high heels are a team of two scientists, a government hitman and a psychic “empath”. It’s that last tracker, a convenient plot device named Dan Smithson, who inspires the most eyerolls. The characterization is also cliché. It’s Sil and her violent antics that keep things interesting.

my rating : 3 of 5

1995

audio review : The Sneak Attack ( album ) … KRS-One

audio review : The Sneak Attack ( album ) ... KRS-One

This is KRS-One’s first album since leaving Jive; the major record label he’d been with since By All Means Necessary, which the “contradictory” Teacha also held a gun on the cover of. What this Koch debut brings is what sounds like a much lower school budget compared to his previous set, I Got Next, which included as a bonus song a remix with Puff Daddy.

There are no guest rappers here, but The MC is lyrically as “fresh” as ever. What’s stale are some of these beats and hooks. What Kinda World, Get Your Self Up and Krush Them are particularly banal. The Lessin is a good one though and the Sneak Attack title song is a banger. The album also ends with two standouts; False Pride and The Raptizm.

my rating : 3 of 5

2001

audio review : The Don And The Boss ( song ) … Vybz Kartel + Busta Rhymes

This is an ode to big “bumpa” women like Nicki Minaj and Megan Thee Stallion. That specific celebrities are mentioned by name during the hook serves as the song’s one notable blunder.

The vocals, specifically their Rastafarian delivery, and the beat; the sole purpose of which is for sweaty subservient females to dance like they’re fucking to; make for a sultry club banger.

my rating : 4 of 5

2020

video review : Uriah Hall versus Anderson Silva at UFC Fight Night

video review : Uriah Hall versus Anderson Silva at UFC Fight Night

I mentioned how the end of Anderson Silva’s MMA career is headed the way of BJ Penn in my review of his previous bout. This one makes the comparison even closer. Silva’s fall from grace, which began years ago at the hands of Chris Weidman, isn’t as bad; Penn has seven losses in a row; but it’s bad. This was promoted as his farewell, but he says in the post interview that he doesn’t know if it will be. As much as I look forward to his fights; he’s my favorite fighter, so this relatively unpopular main event was my most anticipated of the year; I hope it is.

That’s not to say that Anderson Silva; the oldest fighter in The UFC; is no longer a worthy contender. He may not have access to The Matrix anymore, but he can still win rounds. Uriah Hall knocks him down at the end of the third, but Silva is winning the fight, rather a tentative Hall is losing, until then. It’s the first time Silva goes down from a face punch since he fought Michael Bisping. Then it happens again in the forth. It’s a sad ending indeed, though it’s Hall who seems affected by it the most. The bout ends with him embracing and weeping with his hero.

my rating : 3 of 5

2020

audio review : Extinction Level Event 2 [ The Wrath Of God ] ( album ) … Busta Rhymes

audio review : Extinction Level Event 2 [ The Wrath of God ] ( album ) ... Busta Rhymes

It seems absurd for an Extinction Level Event to have a sequel after just 22 years; The Final World Front wasn’t so final; but here we have it, which isn’t to say it doesn’t sometimes come close to justifying its existence. Busta Rhymes, now a Leader of the old school, still brings the boom-bap; vintage hip-hop producers featured here include 9th Wonder, Pete Rock, DJ Premier and DJ Scratch; and his flamboyant rap style still sounds fresh after all these years.

With that, ELE2 sounds damn good when it’s just Busta Rhyming to a beat. He says Czar is “music for riots” and, though his groupthink ideology in regard to race and religion suggest he’s more of a boneheaded caveman, it gets you amped enough to be just that. Boomp sounds even better. What the album would be better without is the bombastic Intro, ill-fitting song interpolations; he resurrects ODB and BBD; silly skits and irky Chris Rock monologues.

my rating : 3 of 5

2020

audio review : Positions ( album ) … Ariana Grande

audio review : Perdida ( album ) ... Stone Temple Pilots

There are some Positions I’d like to put Ariana Grande in. Her body is perfectly petite and her face is cute enough under all the fakeup. Sex and romance is what almost every song on this album is about. That’s no surprise. Grande is an exemplification of pop girl clichés.

The music, produced mostly by Tommy Brown, is the best part. It’s the singer’s cutesy vocals that let it down. My Hair, which is also let down so that her guy can run his “hands” (fingers) thru it, is a sheeny (funky) exception. 34-35, about having sex “all night”, is another.

my rating : 3 of 5

2020