Celebrity Rumors

Circus or Freak Show

Having been handed a demo of Britney Spears upcoming album Circus I was loathe to actually listen to it and really didn’t want to review but this was the first bit of pre-release I have had in my possession for a while .  I was actually surprised I liked the first track Womanizer.  The song synth pop beat took me back to a time in the mid eighties.  The second track Circus has a similar feel and beat to her first big hit, Baby One More Time.  The lyrics and vocals have matured, but it still has that catchy beat.  Kill The Lights is much the same way for me vocally more mature but still with that dance beat that she debuted with.  Shattered glass will be a song popular with fans of Oops I did it again.

Most of the other tracks are a mix of old and new Britney Spears which is either a circus or freak show depending on how you feel about her.  The songs are filled with danceable synth pop and forgetable lyrics.  There are two songs that really stand out for me though.  Out From Under could be an anthem for anyone who wants to make a clean break from their past, something that would be very good for her.  It would be good to see her move wild child to mother and no what her real priorities should be.

The last song that really struck me is My Baby.  My daughter having been born just nine days ago made this somewhat of a special song for me.  When it came on and spoke of tiny hands, my baby, had hers wrapped around my finger and it was just a moment frozen for me.  None of the other lyrics really matter, but the whole tone of the song not only kept me listening but made it a worth iTunes pruchase.

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Wynton and Willie: Two Men with the Blues

Willie Nelson has been singing, and recording, the blues since the 1960s, as an integral part of his country sound. Wynton Marsalis, born into a musical family, has been playing and recording blues, jazz, and classical music since 1980. Between Nelson and Marsalis, you can hear dozens of albums’ worth of classic blues and long-loved standards. Finally, Willie and Wynton have come together and recorded “Two Men with the Blues“, released July 8, 2008 by Blue Note Jazz, Marsalis’s label.

Recorded January 12th and 13th, 2007 during a Jazz at Lincoln Center event, “Two Men with the Blues” highlights the best of the show’s performances, when both Willie Nelson and Wynton Marsalis were at their best. Back-up and other solos come from the Wynton Marsalis Quintet regulars, with Mickey Raphael, a long-time cohort of Nelson, on harmonica and Willie, of course, providing his own guitar solos.

While not every song on “Two Men with the Blues” works as well as Caldonia, every note of this album displays the joy that these two men take in playing classic New Orleans jazz together. Willie Nelson romps through tracks like My Bucket’s Got a Hole in It and Ain’t Nobody’s Business while Wynton Marsalis demonstrates how smooth and sassy combine to make the trumpet the instrument for this style of the blues. When people who share a passion and an deep enjoyment of music get together, you know that the results will be magic. Nelson and Marsalis are just such people, and this album proves the point.

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Jack Johnson

Jack Johnson is a plain ordinary name for a very complex voice. Stunning melodies compliments a heart pulling guitar. I stumbled onto Jack’s music through my Pandora feed and instantly was hooked with Traffic in the Sky off of On and On. I was taken with how his native Hawaiian sounds infiltrate his indie folk-rock tunes.

There is not a lot of online places you can hear Jack Johnson, but when you do his rich voice is worth pumping through full range speakers. You can hear a few songs and watch a couple of vids on his MySpace profile. The best place is on his website Jack Johnson Music. To hear Jack and similar artists you add my Pandora Radio for Jack Johnson.

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I Fell In Love

When I first heard James Blackshaw’s music several years ago I literally fell in love with his 12 string guitar. There are so few who really play the instrument well, even those that play it in the genres it developed in. James however pulls out the most beautiful music in a thoroughly modern tones and techniques. He may claim that his influences are classical European minimalists composers and other twelve stringers like
Jack Rose, Steffen Basho-Junghans, and Robbie Basho, but I hear the undertones of Clapton, Petty, and Beck through out many riffs. intentional or not, the music is still beautiful and can’t wait to have my copy of the new disc in a few days. Litany of Echoes. For the mean time, I am just enjoying the music on his MySpace page and what I already have.

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