audio review : Love And War ( album ) … Tamar Braxton

audio review : Love And War ( album ) ... Tamar Braxton

Tamar claims she has a man who thinks she’s the Prettiest Girl in the world, even when she “ain’t got no makeup on”, but that’s hard to believe. He may tell her that in order to taste some of her Hot Sugar, but I doubt he really thinks that and I doubt she really thinks he thinks that. You can see her face on the album photo and the mere fakeness of it suggests she’s suffering from a serious self-esteem problem. If that isn’t the case, there should be a logical answer as to why she hides her face under so much make-up, alters it with cosmetic surgery and has pictures of it altered with visual effects, and I can’t think of what (else) that answer might be.

To be fair, my little psychological diagnosis extends far beyond this particular Braxton. She is, in part, a product of her society. So she makes romance albums in which almost every song is about sex or “Love” like most other urban pop singers. Whether you like what you hear when you press play or not; it begins with a sample of a Mtume song and a quote from a rap song that sampled that song too; you have to give her a low score in the category of originality. She does better in voice. I’d rather hear her than her huskier sister Toni. But there’s not much happening here in regard to overall talent. The worst songs include Tip Toe and Pieces.

my rating : 3 of 5

2013

video review : Stand Up Guys

video review : Stand Up Guys

The Guys this movie centers around are old crime buddies reunited after one, Val, is released from a 28-year prison stay, so the plot comes across as an epilogue. Their most thrilling days are far behind them, but still they manage to get into plenty of mischief in just a matter of hours. The gist is that Doc has been ordered by his crime boss to kill Val by 10-AM, something he’s only reluctantly going along with in order to save his own life. Val killed the boss’s son before going to prison, and the boss wants revenge, so if Doc backs out, he too will be killed.

That revelation brings with it a certain level of underlying tension, despite the fact that Doc immediately admits to Val what’s going on the moment he gets suspicious enough to ask about it. And tension, however weak, is a good thing. The problem is that the plot, which often runs in real time, has nowhere to go from there. 10-AM is the deadline and Doc makes it obvious he’s going to wait until then to do it, but the random things they do in the meanwhile; this movie is much better at drama than comedy; only strains the plausibility of the plot.

my rating : 3 of 5

2012

audio review : The Electric Lady ( album ) … Janelle Monáe

audio review : The Electric Lady ( album ) ... Janelle Monáe

This is a continuation of her Metropolis series, but, without the Overtures and Interludes, it would be a normal Janelle Monáe album and I’d prefer it that way. The concept, which has her playing an android character named Cindi Mayweather, is silly and seemingly pointless. The radio bits, led by the voice of an annoying DJ, are especially distractive. Not that the songs themselves are without fault.

They are technically engaging. The songstress has a knack for crafting original music that recaptures the vibes of 1970s and 1960s soul. It’s Code sounds like a lost Jackson Five ballad while Look Into My Eyes channels Lena Horne. But they don’t have the memorable melodies to match. This Electric Lady, even with guest vocalists like Erykah Badu and Prince at her helm, thrives on style over substance.

my rating : 3 of 5

2013

audio review : Waiting To Exhale [ Original Soundtrack Album ]

audio review : Waiting To Exhale [ Original Soundtrack Album ]

The main reason this album; the Original Soundtrack to Waiting To Exhale; sounds so cohesive, despite a different vocalist on almost every song, is that it’s arranged and produced by Babyface. On display is his knack for making sweet, sometimes syrupy, contemporary soul music; the kind in which a singer croons of “love”. In this case, it’s the joy, pain, passion and drama of romantic relationships from the perspective of black females.

my rating : 3 of 5

1995

audio review : Kaleidoscope Dream ( album ) … Miguel

audio review : Kaleidoscope Dream ( album ) ... Miguel

There are smooth dreamy vibes happening here. Miguel makes nice easy-listening soul music. When he wanders into a matching melody, as on the Use Me chorus, it makes for a nice song. Most of the concepts have to do with romance or “love”; typical for the genre. What makes the album standout a bit is its slight but raunchy emphasis on sex. Foot fetish fuck anthem Arch And Point is followed by a ballad entitled Pussy Is Mine.

my rating : 3 of 5

2012

audio review : Survival ( song ) … Eminem ( featuring Liz Rodrigues )

Songstress Liz Rodrigues sounds hacky on the hook. Not that the song would be good without her. Eminem is still rapping with the angry yell he’s been using since his (2009) Drop The World verse and still not really saying anything clever or interesting in the process.

“The skill was there,” he reminds us, taking it back to when he first blew up, but that’s an understatement. He was the best rapper to ever do that. Now it’s debatable if he even cracks the top five as he insists he does. A song like this only makes his fight that much harder.

my rating : 3 of 5

2013

audio review : The Marshall Mathers LP 2 ( album ) ... Eminem

audio review : Woman To Woman ( album ) … Keyshia Cole

audio review : Woman To Woman ( album ) ... Keyshia Cole

Woman To Man would’ve been a better title because most of these songs are addressed to men; the men Keyshia Cole is or was romantically involved with. That’s assuming she’s portraying herself as a heterosexual woman. If she’s bi, only some of the songs are to men and the title still doesn’t make sense.

Careless concepts are only part of the problem here. The album’s biggest flaw is the abundance of lackluster vocal melodies. The woman has a strong singing voice, but her apparent lack of talent when it comes to composing melodies has her wasting it on “love” songs that are more insipid than inspirational.

my rating : 3 of 5

2012

audio review : Random Access Memories ( album ) … Daft Punk

audio review : Random Access Memories ( album ) ... Daft Punk

Some of this music sounds familiar. Beyond sounds like I Keep Forgettin by Michael McDonald. Give Life Back To Music is reminiscent of Evelyn King’s Shame. It’s no coincidence those songs came from the late 1970s and early 1980s when disco was the pinnacle of pop music. That’s the era this Daft Punk album, nostalgically entitled Random Access Memories, is tuned to.

The duo, with outside help from real-instrument-playing musicians, does a remarkable job of capturing that vintage sound. It’s the vocals laid atop that dampers the experience. Paul Williams is enchanting on the Disney-ready Touch, easily the album’s best song, but crooners like Todd Edwards and Pharrell are no (aesthetic) match for the grooves they’re singing to.

my rating : 3 of 5

2013

audio review : Black Skinhead ( song ) … Kanye West

This one doesn’t get good until the last twenty seconds. That’s when Kanye West, an activist for the black race, starts doing his vehement “God” chant over a guitar-like distortion effect.

The whole song should sound that riveting. Instead we mostly hear the rapper over a minimalist jungle beat led by what sounds like the drums from Gary Glitter’s Rock And Roll sports anthem.

my rating : 3 of 5

2013

audio review : Yeezus ( album ) … Kanye West

audio review : Hold My Liquor ( song ) … Kanye West ( featuring Chief Keef + Justin Vernon )

“Calling-up your uncle’s place,” Justin Vernon sings, “Shit’s all over the place”. I guess that part, the song’s melodic highlight, is supposed to be the bridge, but it should be the chorus. The real chorus, sang by an Autotuned Chief Keef, is comparatively lame.

I’m glad he doesn’t rap, but there should be two verses. Kanye West’s one, which reveals a romantic theme undetectable in the “nigga”-ridden hook, makes for a song that’s structurally awkward. Not that the spacey instrumental isn’t a form of drunken tranquility.

my rating : 3 of 5

2013

audio review : Yeezus ( album ) … Kanye West

video review : Do The Right Thing

video review : Do The Right Thing

There are plenty of stupid things in this movie, beginning with the opening dance sequence, but the stupidest or at least most annoying are Smiley and Buggin Out. They’re characters who live in Brooklyn and are obsessively infatuated with the black race like seemingly every other black character in this movie. Smiley, who stutters whenever he speaks, is a retard. Buggin Out just acts like one. The problem with the two is that their annoying ways are played-out almost to the point of caricaturization. They come across as virtual cartoons in a movie that’s supposed to be about real life.

It’s a hot summer day and Mookie, who works as a delivery man for an Italian pizzeria, is just trying to get thru life. That’s the gist of a plot that cares more about observing characters in their everyday environment; the neighborhood of Bedford–Stuyvesant; than telling a cohesive story. At one point, the story is temporarily abandoned for an impromptu insult session. That bit too is, of course, all about race. “Tawana (Brawley) told the truth,” reads a graffiti message in a another scene. All this racial tension peaks at the end when a guy named Radio Raheem becomes the victim of police brutality.

my rating : 3 of 5

1989

video review : Red Hook Summer

video review : Red Hook Summer

This is an epilogue to Do The Right Thing, a movie many people consider Spike Lee’s magnum opus, only in the sense that he uses it to reprise his role as Mookie. It’s a brief cameo feature but a touch of nostalgia nonetheless. Both movies focus on black people in the city of Brooklyn. I just happen to like this one a little more.

The acting on the part of the two child stars is surprisingly amateurish, especially the girl’s; her voice inflections are consistently wrong; but Red Hook Summer, as desultory as its plot may be, is never boring. That has mostly to do with the boy’s grandfather, a Bible-gripping bishop who preaches the gospel even when he’s not preaching.

He’s determined to introduce his grandson to “God”. And even if his cultic sermons fall on deaf ears, the church song performances he leads are enjoyable. The non-diegetic music, which plays even during scenes it shouldn’t play during; Spike Lee appears at the end wearing a “No Music” shirt, oddly enough; sounds good too.

Then there’s a major plot twist. It’s a sudden character reveal near the level of The Sixth Sense. The way it happens is, like the fire riot scene in Do The Right Thing, overdramatic and even a bit silly, but it sets the tone for an ending that, whether you can feel compassionate for the protagonist or not, is somber and moving.

my rating : 3 of 5

2012