Tag: music

video review : Purple Rain

video review : Purple Rain

This could’ve been a good concert video. Instead the stage bits are repeatedly interrupted by what’s supposed to be a movie. The acting is porn bad; the only two real actors are Clarence Williams and Olga Karlatos as Prince’s dysfunctional parents; but the girls are pretty; Jill is my Apollonia; and the music rocks.

Of course the music rocks. This is a Prince movie and Purple Rain is his best album. The fictionalization of it is off-putting; for some inexcusable reason, his name is changed to The Kid; but its songs shine. Some are poignant enough to leave the ladies in tears. Perhaps the title is a metaphor for running mascara.

my rating : 3 of 5

1984

audio review : Purple Rain ( album ) … Prince And The Revolution

albums I had on cassette

  • A Wolf In Sheep’s Clothing [ Black Sheep ]
  • Act Like You Know [ MC Lyte ]
  • AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted [ Ice Cube ]
  • And In This Corner [ DJ Jazzy Jeff And The Fresh Prince ]
  • Apocalypse 91 : The Enemy Strikes Black [ Public Enemy ]
  • Bad : Bigger And Deffer [ LL Cool J ]
  • Banned In The USA [ Uncle Luke ]
  • Black Pearl [ YoYo ]
  • Brainstorm [ Young MC ]
  • Civilization Versus Technology : Heal [ compilation ]
  • Cool Hand Lōc [ Tone Lōc ]
  • Cosmic Thing [ The B-52s ]
  • Cypress Hill [ Cypress Hill ]
  • Daily Operation [ Gang Starr ]
  • Dangerous [ Michael Jackson ]
  • De La Soul Is Dead [ De La Soul ]
  • Dead Serious [ Das EFX ]
  • Death Certificate [ Ice Cube ]
  • Diamonds And Pearls [ Prince ]
  • Doggystyle [ Snoop Dogg ]
  • Doin Hard Time On Planet Earth [ 2 Black 2 Strong MMG ]
  • Done By The Forces Of Nature [ Jungle Brothers ]
  • Edutainment [ Boogie Down Productions ]
  • Extremely Live [ Vanilla Ice ]
  • Fade To Black [ Cookie Crew ]
  • Faith [ George Michael ]
  • Federal [ E-40 ]
  • Fine Young Cannibals [ Fine Young Cannibals ]
  • Funky Divas [ En Vogue ]
  • Ghetto Music : The Blueprint Of Hip-Hop [ Boogie Down Productions ]
  • Girl You Know It’s True [ Milli Vanilli ]
  • Gonna Make You Sweat [ C And C Music Factory ]
  • Homebase [ DJ Jazzy Jeff And The Fresh Prince ]
  • I Gotta Get Mine Yo [ Chubb Rock ]
  • I Need A Haircut [ Biz Markie ]
  • I’m Goin Out Lika Soldier [ Willie D ]
  • In A Major Way [ E-40 ]
  • Into The Future [ MC Rell And The Houserockers ]
  • It Takes Two [ Rob Base And DJ EZ Rock ]
  • J Beez Wit The Remedy [ Jungle Brothers ]
  • Jungle Fever : Music From The Movie [ Stevie Wonder ]
  • Led Zeppelin [ Led Zeppelin ]
  • Licensed To Ill [ Beastie Boys ]
  • Little Big Man [ Bushwick Bill ]
  • Live And Let Die [ Kool G Rap And DJ Polo ]
  • Live Hardcore Worldwide [ Boogie Down Productions ]
  • Lōc-ed After Dark [ Tone Lōc ]
  • Looks Like A Job For [ Big Daddy Kane ]
  • Lyte As A Rock [ MC Lyte ]
  • Mack Daddy [ Sir Mix-A-Lot ]
  • Made In USA [ The Beach Boys ]
  • Make Way For The Motherlode [ YoYo ]
  • Mama Said Knock You Out [ LL Cool J ]
  • MC Breed And DFC [ MC Breed + DFC ]
  • Mecca And The Soul Brother [ Pete Rock And CL Smooth ]
  • Michel’le [ Michel’le ]
  • Nature Of A Sista [ Queen Latifah ]
  • Of The Heart Of The Soul And Of The Cross : The Utopian Experience [ PM Dawn ]
  • Off The Deep End [ Weird Al Yankovic ]
  • OG : Original Gangster [ Ice-T ]
  • Party Mix | Mesopotamia [ The B-52s ]
  • Paul’s Boutique [ Beastie Boys ]
  • Peaceful Journey [ Heavy D And The Boyz ]
  • Play It Again Shan [ MC Shan ]
  • Please Hammer Don’t Hurt Em [ MC Hammer ]
  • Power …Ice-T ]
  • Power Rap [ compilation ]
  • Prince Of Darkness [ Big Daddy Kane ]
  • Quik Is the Name [ DJ Quik ]
  • Radio [ LL Cool J ]
  • Rap Rap Rap [ compilation ]
  • Remembrance Days [ The Dream Academy ]
  • Return Of The Boom Bap [ KRS-One ]
  • Rhythm Nation : 1814 [ Janet Jackson ]
  • Runnin Off At Da Mouth [ Twista ]
  • Serious Hits : Live [ Phil Collins ]
  • Sex And Violence [ Boogie Down Productions ]
  • Sex Packets [ Digital Underground ]
  • Shadow Dancing [ Andy Gibb ]
  • Sons Of The Father [ YZ ]
  • Sons Of The P [ Digital Underground ]
  • Spellbound [ Paula Abdul ]
  • Spice 1 [ Spice 1 ]
  • Stone Cold Rhymin [ Young MC ]
  • Straight Up Sewaside [ Das EFX ]
  • Stunts Blunts And Hip Hop [ Diamond D ]
  • Take A Look Around [ Masta Ace ]
  • Taste Of Chocolate [ Big Daddy Kane ]
  • Tell It To My Heart [ Taylor Dayne ]
  • Terminator X And The Valley Of The Jeep Beets [ Terminator X ]
  • The Biz Never Sleeps [ Biz Markie ]
  • The Boy Genius [ Kwamé ]
  • The Chronic [ Dr Dre ]
  • The Low End Theory [ A Tribe Called Quest ]
  • The Mail Man [ E-40 ]
  • The Raw And The Cooked [ Fine Young Cannibals ]
  • The Revival [ Tony Toni Toné ]
  • The Ruler’s Back [ Slick Rick ]
  • The Simpsons Sing The Blues ]
  • The Slim Shady LP [ Eminem ]
  • To The East Blackwards [ X Clan ]
  • To The Extreme [ Vanilla Ice ]
  • Too Legit To Quit [ MC Hammer ]
  • Totally Krossed Out [ Kriss Kross ]
  • Via Satellite From Saturn [ Home Team ]
  • We Can’t Be Stopped [ Geto Boys ]
  • We Can’t Dance [ Genesis ]
  • When Disaster Strikes [ Busta Rhymes ]
  • Whoomp : There It Is [ Tag Team ]
  • WrestleMania : The Album [ compilation ]
  • Xodus [ X Clan ]
  • You Better Ask Somebody [ YoYo ]
  • 14 Shots To The Dome [ LL Cool J ]
  • 187 He Wrote [ Spice 1 ]
  • 2 Hype [ Kid N Play ]
  • 3 Feet High And Rising [ De La Soul ]
  • 3 Years 5 Months And 2 Days In The Life Of [ Arrested Development ]

audio review : Pure Souls ( song ) … Roddy Ricch + Kanye West ( featuring Shenseea )

Shenseea almost ruins this song. Her coda should’ve been cut entirely. The organ sounds nice, but that whole end section threatens to drag the overall aesthetic quality down a notch.

It would be better as a Roddy Ricch song featuring Kanye West, who actually provides the best part. “Father, I’m yours exclusively,” it goes, “Devil, get behind me; I’m loose, I’m free.”

my rating : 4 of 5

2021

audio review : Donda ( album ) ... Kanye West

audio review : Moon ( song ) … Kid Cudi ( featuring Don Toliver + Kanye West )

This, a sky-gazer’s hymn, is the best cut from Kanye West’s Donda album, but it would’ve been even better than it is if it had a more appropriate song structure. It barely qualifies as a song. There should be not one but two Kid Cudi verses with a Kanye West chorus break in-between.

That chorus, which has West conjuring the melodic chops he showcased on the demo/SNL version of Teyana Taylor’s We Got Love, doesn’t come till near the end. It’s a five-star bit though as he outsings both Cudi, who should also be praised for his wailing ad-libs, and Don Toliver.

my rating : 4 of 5

2021

audio review : Donda ( album ) ... Kanye West

audio review : Ship Those Niggers Back ( song ) … Odis Cochran

This folk anthem celebrates the idea that international race segregation is the way to go, even if via leaking boats. “America for white, Africa for black,” Odis Cochran and his fellow bigots harmonize on the chorus, “Send them apes back to the trees; Ship Those Niggers Back.”

The music is composed of nothing more than an acoustic guitar, leaving the vocals alone to carry the melodies of the song, but that’s all it needs. What it would do better without are the comedy breaks on which a black man who refuses to get on the boat is beaten until he obeys.

my rating : 4 of 5

1964