A short but sweet list this week folks. While I am not running home at a racer's pace to pop in the new Bette Midler or Calvin Harris album, I have to give credit where credit is due. Let's take Midler for example. While numbers sometimes to not reflect the character of music, "Midler has been nominated for two Academy Awards, and won three Grammy Awards, four Golden Globes, three Emmy Awards, and a special Tony Award. She has sold over 30 million albums worldwide and along with that has also received 4 Gold, 3 Platinum and 3 Multiplatinum albums by RIAA." (via Wiki)
Harris is in the same boat as far as I am concerned. While he does not have the same amount of awards and sales compared to Midler, in his short time Harris has been nominated for well over 60+ awards and won 16 of them including some high profile ones like Teen Choice, ASCAP Pop Music Awards, NME, Grammy Awards, and more.
So whether or not you are a fan of the music, you can appreciate the talent some of these folks have (even if it's not your thing). So like usual, be a doll and pick up a copy of the album at your local record store, online retailer, or trusted digital source. Cheers and happy Tuesday!
(The Doobie Brothers - Southbound)
In case it wasn’t expressed clearly, I do like ‘Southbound’ quite a lot. It does what a duet re-release of classic songs should do, and re-interprets the music according to the new collaborations. However, I do think that some of the instrumental intimacy of the original versions are drowned in loud, homologous, guitar-heavy instrumentation, which makes the album a bit of an assault on the ears after a few songs. For listeners being introduced to Doobie Brothers for the first time, it does make their music much more accessible to a younger generation, with the overly-produced songs being quite friendly to the modern ear. -For The Country Record
(Neil Young - Storytone)
Throughout Storytone, Young is at once absolving himself of the complexities of blame and remorse, while all the time still feeling them. What is so striking is that the lyrics are so bare and unapologetically whimsical for a man in his late 60s. But, honesty doesn’t always result in great music, and this is a music review. -Paste Magazine
(Bette Midler - It's The Girls!)
Anyone acquaint with the music business would not that it's never easy to being a female in a patriarchal industry. The music business is notorious for objectifying women and exploiting women financially, sexually, spiritually and emotionally. Thus, even though many of these songs have a bubbly zest, underneath them are layers of unspeakable pain. What's most winsome about Midler's take of these 15 classics is that she captures both the outwardly zipper-ish feel as well as the internal turmoil of fame's tortures. -Hallels
(Bob Dylan & The Band - The Basement Tapes)
The scaled-down “Basement Tapes” offered Dylan’s personal pullback from the mania of psychedelic rock just as it was on the ascent. Consider it further proof of how far ahead of the curve Dylan was. Likewise, the music’s attention to the roots of country, folk and blues, through its many cover songs, set the mold for what would become known, decades later, as “Americana” music. -NY Daily News
(Calvin Harris - Motion)
Harris switches things up slightly by featuring his own vocals on the album's best-known single, "Summer"; otherwise, however, the track sticks to his likable, but typical, formula. Harris may have helped popularize the current dance-pop sound, but now that the rest of the industry has caught up, it has become ubiquitous to the point of uniformity. By staying within the safest corners of both pop and dance, he fails to push the boundaries of either genre. -Billboard
Thus largely describes the remaining tracks of "Pandemonium". If there's any criticism of this album (and it's a tiny one at best), it's the general predictability of the songwriting. There are allotments for improvisation, such as the huffing, BLACK SABBATH measures stuck on the tail end of "Insurrection" almost like a bonus track. Like SOULFLY's recent albums, there are exciting and inventive intros that inevitably lead to the same patterns. Fortunately, the thrash is so well-executed on this album, it's never boring. -Blabbermouth
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