Category: reviews

audio review : What Happened To The World ( mixtape ) … The Jacka

audio review : What Happened To The World ( mixtape ) ... The Jacka

The Jacka is better than the average rapper but not because of his raps. His retarded delivery is barely adequate. It’s his singing that stands out. My biggest complaint when it comes to rap songs is their tendency to falter during the breaks. The Jacka croons his hooks and seems to have a knack for composing catchy melodies, which does wonders for his songs.

Prime examples include What Are We and The Way We Was. Their only real flaws are that they’re cut too short at the end, which probably has to do with this set being a sloppy “audio documentary” mixtape, full with annoying DJ (Child) tags and all, than a proper album. Other highlights include The President’s Face, See It Thru, I’m Leaving and Love.

my rating : 4 of 5

2014

audio review : 3 Feet High And Rising ( album ) … De La Soul

audio review : 3 Feet High And Rising ( album ) ... De La Soul

3 Feet High And Rising is the name of a quiz show on which quirky contestants try to answer ridiculous questions for an unnamed prize. It’s a silly and seemingly irrelevant album concept, but it’s funny and, listening to the set, it’s obvious all De La Soul want to do is have fun.

The matter-of-fact style of their raps, which sometimes sound more like they’re reading aloud to small children, are amusing, but of the twenty-something tracks on the album, only about half are songs. The others are an anything-but-garden variety of short bits and interludes.

my rating : 4 of 5

1989

The Bazaar Of Bad Dreams ( book ) … Stephen King

The Bazaar Of Bad Dreams ( book ) ... Stephen King

Stephen King, the top seller in the horror book Bazaar, remains an excellent writer in the technical sense. It’s his mundane imagination; a lot of his tales are simply boring; and corny sense of humor that might have you demanding a refund. Even the best short stories in this collection; Premium Harmony and The Little Green God Of Agony; are merely decent.

my rating : 2 of 5

2015

video review : All In The Family : Archie And The KKK

video review : All In The Family : Archie And The KKK

“We’re not gonna be driven out of our house screaming in terror,” Michael Stivic insists in response to a threat from the Ku Klux Klan. “What are we gonna do,” his wife asks in a state of panic. “We’re gonna leave quietly,” he says. It’s the funniest bit of the episode; a two-parter that doesn’t start to get good until the second half.

The drama begins when Archie inadvertently becomes a KKK member after he’s overheard at the bar condemning the social unrest happening; black people rioting and such; in the neighborhood. He may be racist but regrets being duped into joining, especially when he catches wind of their plan to burn a cross in front of his family’s house.

my rating : 3 of 5

1977

audio review : Didn’t Mean To Kill A Man ( song ) … Max B

I’m guessing “the icy man” is the man who drove the ice cream truck. Max B says his mom wouldn’t give him money to buy some as a kid because “she’d rather go see the dealer”. It seems he’s suggesting her drug addiction set him on the wrong path. These vocals were recorded not in a posh studio but a prison as he serves what was initially a life sentence for Killing a man.

That makes the title, which would be better if it included the word “I”, and concept a bit of a surprise, though the alleged crime is only mentioned in a hook that further establishes the rapper slash singer as the best in the game. The beat, led by a poignant piano loop, is also a banger. My only major complaint is that it doesn’t continue to play after the final chorus section.

my rating : 4 of 5

2020

audio review : Charly ( EP ) ... Max B

AnnaSophia Robb’s physical appearance

AnnaSophia Robb's physical appearance AnnaSophia Robb's physical appearance AnnaSophia Robb's physical appearance AnnaSophia Robb's physical appearance AnnaSophia Robb's physical appearance AnnaSophia Robb's physical appearance AnnaSophia Robb's physical appearance

AnnaSophia Robb looks beautiful in the right lighting with makeup on, which it seems she’s rarely seen in public without, and she almost is. She’s certainly pretty enough to cover all my romantic and sexual requirements. She’d be a suitable girlfriend in other words. At just five feet, she’s nearly dwarf short, which I love.

Speaking of feet, the third toe on her left foot is crooked, but I’d suck it straight. The point is that she doesn’t have any major flaws. She is quite hairy, but that would only bother me if we were, say, on a date around other people. I’m into hairy chicks too, especially blonde ones, but I don’t necessarily want the world to know.

my rating : 4 of 5

2020

video review : Sean O’Malley versus Marlon Vera at UFC 252

video review : Sean O'Malley versus Marlon Vera at UFC 252

Another hype train derailed? Perhaps, but not so fast. Sean O’Malley seems on his way to victory here until his right leg fails him, which causes him to fall and lose. Whether that’s because of a kick from Marlon Vera or a fluke injury is the question. The answer will probably determine how much of “the it factor” he (O’Malley) retains going into his next bout.

my rating : 3 of 5

2020

audio review : When The Pawn ( album ) … Fiona Apple

audio review : When The Pawn ( album ) ... Fiona Apple

The full title of this album reads like poetry.

When the pawn hits the conflicts, he thinks like a king.
What he knows throws the blows when he goes to the fight.
And he’ll win the whole thing fore he enters the ring.
There’s nobody to batter when your mind is your might.
So when you go solo, you hold your own hand
and remember that depth is the greatest of heights.
And if you know where you stand, then you know where to land.
And if you fall, it wont matter cause you’ll know that you’re right.

Good thing for sweet Fiona Apple, who’s gorgeous when she’s not gum grinning, titles don’t matter much when it comes to the quality of an album. It’s based mostly on how it sounds. That part she has covered. Even as you realize her poems are mostly just romantic ramblings, her style is enchanting enough to make them mean something.

It’s Jon Brion who directs the music, composed mostly of classical instruments you’re not used to hearing on a modern-day pop album like the violin and the cello. His soundscapes gloss what may have otherwise been mere Love songs with dreamy elegance; the kind that never really goes out of style. Highlights include I Know and Paper Bag.

my rating : 4 of 5

1999

video review : Gino Jennings and Mr Vegas debating about Christian women wearing makeup and other fashion accessories

video review : Gino Jennings and Mr Vegas debating about Christian women wearing makeup and other fashion accessories

This Kingston YMCA debate about whether or not The Bible permits women to wear makeup and other fashion accessories doesn’t really get interesting until it drops the formalities. That happens after Mr Vegas does a speech condemning Gino Jennings for referring to said women as “whores”, which he considers sexist. Jennings says he’s been misrepresented but makes it clear that, as far as he’s concerned, The Bible does, in fact, forbid women “walking around looking like Jezebel”.

The underlining premise, that God is real and what The Bible says is true in the first place, makes for a ridiculous argument either way, but Jennings comes across as the obvious winner. That’s partly because it’s his church they’re debating in. He’s also more charismatic. Vegas repeats himself like a retard. The idiot reading for Jennings does the same. “Disputing daily,” he chants with a brain of mush. The debate ends with Vegas being ushered (thrown) out to a round of applause.

my rating : 4 of 5

2018

audio review : Hand In My Pocket ( song ) … Alanis Morissette

This song’s only flaw, aside from the One missing from the title, is the fact that there’s no piano after Alanis mentions playing the piano. A bar or two in the empty space that follows would help inch the ballad that much closer to perfection.

It’s an ego trip of sorts that begins with the singer fingering her Pocket for cash that isn’t there and ends with the hailing of a “texi kab!”. Her psycho-chick voice inflections are part of the song’s overall charm, along with a beautiful refrain.

my rating : 5 of 5

1995

audio review : Black Woman ( song ) … Jungle Brothers ( featuring Caron Wheeler )

This is a homage to black women. The Brothers seem to think that particular group of people should be not only admired but worshipped. “You started out just a little girl, given the power to change the world,” one verse goes, “And though some of your ways to man are odd, you are the proof that there is a God.”

Such claims are absurd, of course. Some black women deserve praise. Others deserve a punch in the face. In either case, I don’t see what race or, for that matter, gender have to do with it. This is a nice song though, mainly because of the tribal beat, which is led by a Commodores Assembly Line sample.

my rating : 4 of 5

1989

audio review : Done By The Forces Of Nature ( album ) ... Jungle Brothers

audio review : Bruce Wayne [ Gothom City 1987 ] ( album ) … Esham

audio review : Bruce Wayne [ Gothom City 1987 ] ( album ) ... Esham

I don’t know what the 1987 bit is about; he says that’s when he “came up”; but Gothom City is Detroit, which makes Esham Bruce Wayne. Batman is, of course, a member of The Justice League and the rapper embraces a life of crime. Perhaps the moniker has to do with the fact that they’re both millionaires with a thing for sexy women.

“We can fuck like animals, bitch, I’m not soft,” he tells one before vowing to “take the dick out the pussy and jack the fuck off… all over your body.” How’s that for romance? When he’s not chasing females, or fading “that little pussy like Telly Savalas”, he’s riding down 7 Mile Road in his Volvo 850 with a heavy stash of cash, drugs and guns.

There are almost enough good songs here to make a short album; You Betta Ask Somebody, a fun summer anthem based on Rock With You by Michael Jackson, is easily the best of the bunch; but Esham revels in excess, so he gives us another album with too many songs on it. There are some demos near the end he didn’t even bother to title.

my rating : 3 of 5

1997