RIP: Whitney Houston

The fondest memory I have had of Whitney Houston is not her famous hits, her scandalous news during her fall from grace… and especially not ‘The Bodyguard’ movie with Kevin Costner.

It happens to be this interesting passage about her in Bret Easton Ellis’s amazing novel, “American Psycho” quoted below.  Thought it would be a good way to pay homage to the late singer.

RIP (1963 – 2012)

Whitney Houston burst onto the music scene in 1985 with her self-titled LP which had four number one hit singles on it, including “The Greatest Love of All,” “You Give Good Love” and “Saving All My Love for You,” plus it won a Grammy Award for best pop vocal performance by a female and two American Music Awards, one for best rhythm and blues single and another for best rhythm and blues video. She was also cited as best new artist of the year by Billboard and by Rolling Stone magazine. With all this hype one might expect the album to be an anticlimactic, lackluster affair, but the surprise is that Whitney Houston (Arista) is one of the warmest, most complex and altogether satisfying rhythm and blues records of the decade and Whitney herself has a voice that defies belief. From the elegant, beautiful photo of her on the cover of the album (in a gown by Giovanne De Maura) and its fairly sexy counterpart on the back (in a bathing suit by Norma Kaman) one knows that this isn’t going to be a blandly professional affair; the record is smooth but intense and Whitney’s voice leaps across so many boundaries and is so versatile (though she’s mainly a jazz singer) that it’s hard to take in the album on a first listening. But you won’t want to. You’ll want to savor it over many.

It opens with “You Give Good Love” and “Thinking About You,” both produced and arranged by Kashif, and they emanate warm, lush jazz arrangements but with a contemporary synthesized beat and though they’re both really good songs, the album doesn’t get kicking until “Someone for Me” which was produced by Jermaine Jackson, where Whitney sings longingly against a jazz-disco background and the difference between her longing and the sprightliness of the song is very moving. The ballad “Saving All My Love for You” is the sexiest, most romantic song on the record. It also has a killer saxophone solo by Tom Scott and one can hear the influences of sixties girl-group pop in it (it was cowritten by Gerry Goffin) but the sixties girl groups were never this emotional or sexy (or as well produced) as this song is. “Nobody Loves Me Like You Do” is a glorious duet with Jermaine Jackson (who also produced it) and just one example of how sophisticated lyrically this album is. The last thing it suffers from is a paucity of decent lyrics which is what usually happens when a singer doesn’t write her own material and has to have her producer choose it. But Whitney and company have picked well here.

The dance single “How Will I Know” (my vote for best dance song of the 1980s) is a joyous ode to a girl’s nervousness about whether another guy is interested in her. It’s got a great keyboard riff and it’s the only track on the album produced by wunderkind producer Narada Michael Walden. My own personal favorite ballad (aside from ‘The Greatest Love of All”—her crowning achievement) is “All at Once” which is about how a young woman realizes all at once her lover is fading away from her and it’s accompanied by a gorgeous string arrangement. Even though nothing on the album sounds like filler, the only track that might come close is “Take Good Care of My Heart,” another duet with Jermaine Jackson. The problem is that it strays from the album’s jazz roots and seems too influenced by 1980s dance music.

But Whitney’s talent is restored with the overwhelming “The Greatest Love of All,” one of the best, most powerful songs ever written about self-preservation and dignity. From the first line (Michael Masser and Linda Creed are credited as the writers) to the last, it’s a state-of-the-art ballad about believing in yourself. It’s a powerful statement and one that Whitney sings with a grandeur that approaches the sublime. Its universal message crosses all boundaries and instills one with the hope that it’s not too late for us to better ourselves, to act kinder. Since it’s impossible in the world we live in to empathize with others, we can always empathize with ourselves. It’s an important message, crucial really, and it’s beautifully stated on this album.

Her second effort, Whitney (Arista, 1987), had four number one singles, “I Wanna Dance with Somebody,” “So Emotional,” “Didn’t We Almost Have It All?” and “Where Do Broken Hearts Go?” and was mostly produced by Narada Michael Walden and though it’s not as serious an effort as Whitney Houston it’s hardly a victim of Sophomore Slump. It starts off with the bouncy; danceable “I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)” which is in the same vein as the last album’s irrepressible “How Will I Know.” This is followed by the sensuous “Just the Lonely Talking Again” and it reflects the serious jazz influence that permeated the first album and one can also sense a newfound artistic maturity in Whitney’s voice—she did all the vocal arrangements on this album—and this is all very evident on “Love Will Save the Day” which is the most ambitious song Whitney’s yet performed. It was produced by Jellybean Benitez and it pulsates with an uptempo intensity and like most of the songs on this album it reflects a grownup’s awareness of the world we all live in. She sings and we believe it. This is quite a change from the softer, little-girl-lost image that was so appealing on the first album.

She projects an even more adult image on the Michael Masser-produced “Didn’t We Almost Have It All,” a song about meeting up with a long-lost lover and letting him know your feelings about the past affair, and it’s Whitney at her most poetic. And as on most of the ballads there’s a gorgeous string arrangement. “So Emotional” is in the same vein as “How Will I Know” and “I Wanna Dance with Somebody” but it’s even more rock-influenced and, like all the songs on Whitney, played by a terrific backup studio band with Narada on drum machine, Wolter Afanasieff on the synthesizer and synth bass, Corrado Rustici on synth guitar, and someone listed as Bongo Bob on percussion programming and drum sampling. “Where You Are” is the only song on the album produced by Kashif and it bears his indelible imprint of professionalism—it has a smooth, gleaming sound and sheen to it with a funky sax solo by Vincent Henry. It sounded like a hit single to me (but then all the songs on the album do) and I wondered why it wasn’t released as one.

“Love Is a Contact Sport” is the album’s real surprise—a big-sounding, bold, sexy number that, in terms of production, is the album’s centerpiece, and it has great lyrics along with a good beat. It’s one of my favorites. On “You’re Still My Man” you can hear how clearly Whitney’s voice is like an instrument—a flawless, warm machine that almost overpowers the sentiment of her music, but the lyrics and the melodies are too distinctive, too strong to let any singer, even one of Whitney’s caliber, overshadow them. “For the Love of You” shows off Narada’s brilliant drum programming capabilities and its jazzy modern feel harks back not only to purveyors of modern jazz like Michael Jackson and Sade but also to other artists, like Miles Davis, Paul Butterfield and Bobby McFerrin.

“Where Do Broken Hearts Go” is the album’s most powerful emotional statement of innocence lost and trying to regain the safety of childhood. Her voice is as lovely and controlled as it ever has been and it leads up to “I Know Him So Well,” the most moving moment on the record because it’s first and foremost a duet with her mother, Cissy. It’s a ballad about… who?—a lover shared? a long-lost father?—with a combination of longing, regret, determination and beauty that ends the album on a graceful, perfect note. We can expect new things from Whitney (she made a stunning gift to the 1988 Olympics with the ballad “One Moment in Time”) but even if we didn’t, she would remain the most exciting and original black jazz voice of her generation.

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Dragon Tattoo Opening Sequence

I am shamelessly using whatever chance I can to post this video.  Fantastic cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song” from Karen O and Trent Reznor/Atticus Ross.  Love the ultra stylish opening sequence too. Very James Bond-ish don’t you think?

Immigrant Song - Karen O with Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

Frances Bean Cobain

Came across this set of photographs featuring Frances Bean Cobain.  Frances, whom if you haven’t figured out by now, is the daughter of Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love.

Click on the Hedi Slimane’s link below to check out the rest of the photos.

Source : Hedi Slimane

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Categorized as Music

A Toast to the Greatest Overbite in Rock

defiant against the night

Google did a Google Logo tribute on the anniversary of Freddie Mercury’s birthday, which was a very nice touch, but I wasn’t aware that Brian May did a post on the Google blog to mark the occasion as well.

Here’s Time chiming in, and Queen will be streaming the Wembley concert for two straight days via Youtube.

On a personal level, Queen will always be one of my favorite bands, and I regard Freddie Mercury as one of the most distinctive…if not THE most distinctive rock voice of our era (AH! AH!), and with his passing Queen effectively ceased to exist as a functional group. Even non-fans will find it quite difficult to argue against the impact Queen’s performances had on the Live Aid concert in particular and Wembley in general as an iconic rock concert venue. Here’s a happy 65th, and may memories never die.

Scott Pilgrim Vs the World Video Mashup

I really really really loved the soundtrack.  The movie, I think is pretty good.

But the track from t his mashup which samples both is mind-blasting-ly awesome! (yes, I made up a word)

SCOTT PILGRIM - Fight! (1-Year Anniversary Video Remix)

As good as the video editing was, it was the track that really stood out for me.  The sampling of Eye of the Tiger, You gotta fight for your right (to party), Cheryl Cole(!!!) Fight for this love into Metric’s  “Black Sheep” is pretty much genius and totally sold it for me.

Ironically, I wish the track were a little shorter and tighter by dropping some of the repeated dialogue, which would make this even more awesome, but kudos to Osymyso, who’s remix is very much like a 85 hit combo move in my opinion.

Original Source : http://vimeo.com/27292220

A Dramatic Turn Of Events, Reviewed

One of the first reviews of the new Dream Theater album, A Dramatic Turn Of Events, is now available and, sure the author’s an old Dream Theater fan and so is prone to gushing, but then again so am I and I figure, what he likes, I would probably like too.

Some highlights from the review:

  • ‘Keyboard player Rudess has talked of how he would write sections to fit snugly around John Petrucci’s riffs’
  • ‘The growling vocals have vanished to be replaced with typically complex DT musicality and countless melodies, and critically the album is not immediately gratifying, and requires several listens in order to fully grasp exactly what the band have achieved here.’
  • ‘It also showcases Myung’s talent as a bass player — which many have claimed has been left in the background in the recent past — and it’s a pleasure to hear him so prominent in the mix once again.’

September cannot come soon enough. Only question is, should I pre-order the collector’s edition?

R.I.P. Amy Winehouse

I told you that I was trouble, you know that I’m no good

It is truly a sad day to learn another singer has joined the infamous “stupid club”, a name coined by the late Kurt Cobain’s mother during her eulogy during her rock star son who died at the tender age of 27 just like his famed peers, namely Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin and of course, Jimi Hendrix.

Unlike them though, Winehouse only managed to ever release two studio albums. Her last effort, the multiple Grammy winner, ‘Back to Black’ still remains a favourite in my iPod despite of a period now when I hardly listen to albums anymore.

The beautiful blend of jazz, soul and R&B sprinkled with painful lyrics and a dash of irony, resulting in a collection of songs reflecting on romance (or the death of it) and it’s soul mate, bitterness, sung brilliantly by her.

The saddest thing for me is knowing now that my fantasy of her being picked to sing a Bond theme song will never materialise. It is something that seems to me like a perfect fit as I liken her to a modern-day Shirley Bassey.

In an ‘era’ where Lady Gaga and Justin Bielber yet to exist, Amy Winehouse both presented the world a gift of rare talent and the curiosity like that of a car wreck, all in one package. It is the likes of which the audience has not witness since the days of Kurt Cobain.

Similarly, like her fellow ‘club member’ before her, Winehouse downward spiral in her personal life and her appetite for drugs and alcohol has always seem to make her entry into this club look pre-destined.