There is a message board I occasionally visit that recently had a thread asking members to list their 100 favorite movies, and as I can't pass up any opportunity to talk movies, I hastily threw together my own list (then spent 2 hours revising). Anyway, what I realized is just how many on the list were released decades before my nascence: about 70 of them. And then if you add in the ones released before I hit junior high, you're left with about 6 from the last decade. Clearly, I wasn't made for these cinematic times (that or this is the cinematic dark ages).
And then when I think about my favorite music today, it's a lot 60's pop, The Zombies (progenitors of my all-time favorite album 'Odyssey and Oracle'), The Beach Boys (hence the title of the article), The Kinks (I'm currently hooked on their hit All Day and All of the Night ), Love, etc and 70's R&B, Marvin Gaye, Donny Hathaway, Earth Wind and Fire, etc. And then I bought the incredible new Ray Charles album last week and it made me sad that some people got to listen to that as their popular music while we have gibberish like Lil Jon barking "snap ya fingers, two step, you can do it all by yourself" at us. I also bought Solomon Burke's new album and his voice is so expressive still, over 40 years after he started, Johnny Cash was still popular at his death, Bob Dylan recently had a #1 record, Elton John is still working and even talking about doing a hip-hop album. How many career artists do we see in our generation of popular artists?
Last night I randomly found myself looking up all the great statesmen and orators of the American Revolution (no idea why) and wondering what it would be like if we had politicians like Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, Sam Adams, and James Madison today, elected representatives who sounded intelligent when they spoke, instead of ones who give us, "I'm the decider and I decide what's best" and "It depends what the definition of "is" is...
Sure there's stuff out today that I enjoy (and I'll get to that shortly), but given my preferences, sometimes I think I'd prefer to have lived been a teen in the 1960's.
Then I started thinking, maybe it's good that I live in the present, rather than back then because, in addition to that whole Jim Crow business, I'm sure there was plenty of the suck back then too, and only the good has lasted; the wheat has separated itself from the chaff; the cream of the crop has risen, and so forth.
Maybe that's the case, but it seems to me that much of this entertainment was popular in it's day and has lasted because it was good, while today it seems like for most of the good stuff "you have to know where to look." I don't want to have to plumb the depth of cyberspace, searching to and fro for quality entertainment; it should be, in the immortal words of Van Morrison, "ever present everywhere."
However, since we do live in the present, I must deal with it, so here are some current music releases I enjoy and can recommend for just about everyone.
John Mayer - Continuum. I referenced this a few times when I first started this place up and I still think it's good. It's a maturing John Mayer, dealing with growing into adulthood and his place in the world, and of course, the requisite relationship angst.
Robert Randolph and the Family Band - Colorblind. My goodness these guys are awesome. If you've never heard them, you have to immediately. They're sound is like Blues crossed with Funk crossed with Gospel crossed with Rock...it doesn't fit into any genre really. This is the 2nd studio album and it's got more of a rock feel than the first and it's higher energy and features more of Robert's amazing pedal steel guitar solos. If you've got extra money lying around, get their first album, Unclassified as well.
Robin Thicke - The Evolution of Robin Thicke. This one comes as a more modest recommendation because about half of the album is really good. The rest is good, but nothing too special. It's probably better to just buy the best songs, 2 The Sky, Angels, Lonely World, Ask Myself, Complicated, Cocaine, Can U Believe, and Shooter w/ Lil Wayne on Itunes, (or download them for free if you're, you know, a criminal) and leave the rest. His first album, A Beautiful World, is a better whole, in my opinion, but this has some great moments on those songs I listed. His biggest problem is that all of the songs this time around seem just a little too long; there is only 1 song under 3.5 minutes.
Amos Lee - Supply and Demand. Amos' sophomore effort is mostly a continuation of his first album stylistically and lyrically, which is a good thing. At times he does try to stretch himself a little bit musically, but not too far, sticking to a winning formula from that solid eponymous debut. It's good music from start to finish, the title track being the standout the couple times I've listened.
Sufjan Stevens - The Avalanche. I understand this is an album of outtakes and leftovers from his album "Come on, Feel the Illanoise"...while I haven't heard that one, if these are the outtakes, either he has no idea what he's doing by leaving off some of these tracks, or he is a musical wizard and that album is pure magic.
Corinne Bailey Rae. This debut is a great summertime, feel-good album, so you kinda missed the boat on it if you missed it. The two times I was Malibu over the summer I just turned it on, turned it up, drove around and smiled for 11 songs. That isn't to say it only works in summer, good music is good all the time (except Christmas Music...it's only acceptable from about Thanksgiving til Dec. 25th, then that's it, shelve "Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer" and its ilk til next year.) I can't think of an acceptable comparison....musically, I'd say her style is somewhere between Craig David and Kelly Clarkson.
Anthony David also has a new album out, but I haven't heard it, although the single "Words" with India.Arie is pretty good.
Weird Al's "White and Nerdy" may be the funniest song I've heard since MaddWest put out "Ugly Friend" about 4 years back.
Van Hunt is my favorite modern artist, and his two albums and Live EP are fantastic. I am anxiously awaiting the upcoming(Oct. 24th) release of the new John Legend CD, his single "Save Room" is, as Ben might say, tasty.
In movies, I'm not sure if they're all still in theaters but The Last Kiss, The Illusionist, and Little Miss Sunshine are all fine films, and The Lake House and Thank You For Smoking hit DVD recently, and both of those come highly recommended. Oh, and the recent Platinum Edition DVD release of The Little Mermaid is worth every penny, it's an even better film than I remembered it being. Finally, if Spike Lee's Hurricane Katrina documentary "When The Levees Broke" is playing on HBO, you should give it a shot, even though the 4 hour running time is daunting.
And there is a TV show called Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip it comes on NBC, Monday nights at 10. I suggest you watch it. It is very good television. And watch the Project Runway finale coming up tomorrow and next Wednesday. And of course, catch Entourage, The Boondocks, and The Daily Show whenever possible.
OK, I just finished listening to the Robert Randolph CD all the way through....you must get it.
So there you have it, maybe these times aren't so bad after all.
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