What was previously sparse blogging has become practically non-existent. I shall try harder, friends.
One reason for inactivity is that I've been devoting my blogging energy to Popblerd, an excellent collaborative music/pop culture blog. Lots of content, kept up to date (which is a hell of a lot more than I can say for the Music-O-Rama as of late!). Check it out! For the time being, I'll continue to focus my blogging there, but will also try to revive this blog a bit.
I've also stopped posting my radio playlists, mostly out of pure laziness. On that note, dear readers I regret to inform you that my show on WIUP will cease at the end of July (exact date TBD). Time for a break, that's all. Keep on listening though, the station continues to improve - and I think this will continue in the coming academic year (we've already had some great show proposals).
So I've been bad about posting playlists lately. But I thought I'd share the set from hour 2 of this week's show, as it was devoted to MJ. I tried to steer away from too many obvious picks, which made it more fun. DAH.
J5-ABC J5-Feelin' Alright (live) J5-Stand! J5-Maybe Tomorrow J5-Dancing Machine Jacksons-Blame it on the Boogie MJ-Off the Wall Jacksons-Lovely One MJ-Baby Be Mine MJ-PYT MJ-Another Part of Me MJ-Who is It MJ-They Don't Care About Us MJ-Whatever Happens MJ-This is It
INXS-Guns in the Sky The Cure-Hot! Hot! Hot! Deerhoof-I did Crimes for You Alina Simone-Sun Kissed Slashes The Beatles-Rain Peter, Bjorn & John-Dig a Little Deeper Smith Westerns-Fallen in Love Kurt Vile-Smoke Ring for My Halo Big Star-Battle of El Goodo Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti-Can't Hear My Eyes Echo & The Bunnymen-Heaven Up Here Jesus & Mary Chain-Taste of Cindy The Vaselines-Son of a Gun Vivian Girls-Trying to Pretend Foo Fighters-Baker Street Faith No More-Falling to Pieces David Bowie-African Night Flight Blondie-X-Offender Thao & Mirah-How Dare You Tom Tom Club-The Man with the Four-Way Hips Rainbow Arabia-Blind Stereo MCs-Deep Down & Dirty Poly Styrene-I Luv Ur Sneakers Jamie Lidell-Little Bit of Feel Good Alan Wilkis-It's Been Great Raphael Saadiq-Stone Rollin' Stevie Wonder-Another Star
Caught this on VH1 Classic yesterday. I wasn't gaga over Saadiq's last disc, though I appreciated the retro soul vibe. His latest single hit the spot, however. Possible early contender for my summer jam.
Pixies-Bone Machine Arctic Monkeys-Don't sit Down 'Cause I Moved Your Chair British Sea Power-Mongk II Ted Leo & the Pharmacists-Where Have All the Rude Boys Gone? The Brutes-Last Man Left Hungry Hot Hot Heat-Middle of Nowhere Pains of Being Pure at Heaert-My Terrible Friend Yeasayer-I Remember (request) Bright Eyes-Shell Games (request) Laura Jansen-Wicked World The Cars-Since You're Gone The Kinks-Where Have All the Good Times Gone? Roxy Music-Editions of You (request) Phantogram-Bloody Hands Peter Gabriel-Shock the Monkey Bat for Lashes-Trophy Royksopp-Senior Living AnaRobik-Communicate (Aquazoo Project remix) Add N to X-Murmur One Duran Duran-Notorious UNKLE feat. Nick Cave-Money and Run Nikka Costa-Can'tneverdidnothin' Scissor Sisters-She's My Man
Queen-Play the Game Brother-Darling Buds of May Neon Legion-Wicker Men Jookabox-The Eyes of the Fly Florence + the Machine-Howl Band of Horses-The Funeral Explosions in the Sky-Last Known Surroundings Jenny Lewis-Godspeed (request) Iron & Wine-Tree By The River Taj Mahal-Queen Bee The Decemberists-Down by the Water Local Natives-Wide Eyes Puro Instinct-Slivers of You Wild Nothing-The Witching Hour The White Stripes-Death Letter Sonic Youth-Is it My Body? T. Rex-Solid Gold Easy Action The Stooges-1969 Rainbow Arabia-Nothin' Gonnna Be Undone New Order-Age of Consent Cut Copy-Need You Now Chromeo-Openin' Up Justice-D.A.N.C.E. (request) Errors-Julomo Kraak & Smack-Never Too Late
Foo Fighters-Band on the Run New York Dolls-I'm So Fabulous 13th Floor Elevators-Wait for My Love The Raveonettes-Recharge and Revolt Pains of Being Pure at Heart-Even in Dreams TV on the Radio-No Future Shock Tapes n Tapes-Badabing Pink Floyd-Arnold Lane Raw Milk-Itchy Nose Ladytron-I'm Not Scared UNKLE (feat. Nick Cave)-Money and Run Peter, Bjorn and John-Second Chance Adele-Rolling in the Deep Amy Winehouse-You Know I'm No Good The Noisettes-Never Forget You JR Walker and the All-Stars-Good Rockin' Ray Charles-Leave My Woman Alone Prince and the Revolution-Mountains (12" Mix) Joker & Ginz-Re-Up Justice-Civilization Kylie Minogue/New Order-Can't Get Blue Monday Out of My Head Dizzee Rascal-Bubbles Medeski, Martin and Wood-We Are Rolling
Among the many unreleased Prince projects is the High album from 2000. The disc was complete and ready for production, but Prince pulled the plug and opted to release it via his then-burgeoning (and now defunct) online music club.
As Uptown writers note in the exhaustive chronology The Vault, the album is accessible and straightforward, likely another attempt at a commercial comeback (1999's Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic had a similar intent, but ultimately failed.
By and large, the music on High is far more compelling than anything on Rave, and with smart marketing and single selection, I believe it could have had significant commercial impact. Alas. Many of the songs were later repackaged in the second incarnation of Prince's online music club, but spread across a few releases, losing any sense of consistency as to what the High album may have sounded like in its initial configuration. [Note: many of the tracks were also initially released via 2-track singles sold on the 2000Hit N Run tour.]
To that end, here is the original tracklist:
1. U Make My Sun Shine 2. My Medallion 3. Supercute 4. Golden Parachute 5. High 6. When Eye Lay My Hands on U 7. When Will We B Paid 8. Gamillah 9. Underneath the Cream 10. The Daisy Chain
Standout tracks here are "My Medallion," "Supercute," "The Daisy Chain" and "When Eye Lay My Hands on U." All are accessible yet interesting enough that they could have seen some success in the musical climate of 2000. But I digress.
The main motivation behind this post is a recent late night spin of volume 5 from the mind-bogglingly comprehensive The Work set of unreleased material. I haven't heard the High tracks in a while, and I was quickly reminiscing about bumping these tracks in my Cavalier (via Discman with cassette adapter, naturally) that summer. Suddenly, it's July 2000.
More importantly, "When Eye Lay My Hands on U" is a track that blows me away. There are so many layers here, not to mention the blistering guitar work. Take a listen:
And here's a great live take from the Montreaux Jazz Festival in 2009:
Kembrew McLeod and Ben Franzens' excellent documentary Copyright Criminals is now out on DVD. I made a brief post about it last year when it aired on PBS as part of the Independent Lens series. The doc is still getting some much deserved attention, most recently via a very cool performance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. In a one-off performance, we have ?uestlove, Black Thought, Chuck D,. Eclectic Method and Clyde Stubblefield, the man behind the kit for many of James Brown's best known jams. Ladies and gentlemen, the Copyright Criminals All-Star Band:
We Became Actors-Swimming Pools The Clash-Tommy Gun Sick of Sarah-Kick Back Vivian Girls-Dance (If You Wanna) Guards-I See it Coming The Greenhornes-Shelter of Your Arms Morphine-Whisper Wanda Jackson-Shakin' All Over The Black Keys-Tighten Up Jucifer-Amplifier Sonic Youth-Sugar Kane Commerce-Need Heart Rate The Byrds-My Back Pages John Lennon-Nobody Told Me Cut Copy-Take Me Over Jon Spencer Blues Explosion-Do You Wanna Get Heavy? French Soler-Demons (Alan Wilkis remix) Funkadelic-Cosmic Slop Holy Fuck-Red Lights Crystal Castles vs. HEATH-Crimewave Ikonika-Idiot Santogold-You'll Find a Way (remix) Kid Sister-54321 Goldfrapp-Ooh La La Stevie Wonder-He's Misstra Know-it-All
If I look that good in a skin-tight bodysuit when I'm 44, life will be grand.
It's been a while since I've done any sort of writeup for a show. In fact, it appears that the last show I blogged about was when I saw The Ravonettes in October of 2009. Rest assured, there have been shows in the interim - Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, Yeasayer, Beach House, Lady Gaga, Crystal Castles, Hall and Oates, and probably a few others that I can't recall at the moment. This is all to say that I've been a bad music blogger. So I'm here to remedy with a report on this weekend's Janet Jackson show at the Borgata in Atlantic City.
The Borgata Events Center is shockingly small. I expected an intimate venue, but we're talking about 2,000 seats, maybe less. That being the case, I imagine that there wasn't a bad seat in the house, but the 14th row was still a good place to be (albeit not in the center section). In reality, it could have been General Admission on the floor, but I digress.
At each show on this tour, Janet dedicates a song to that city. This seems to me a simple way of giving something distinctive to each performance, though I wonder what real value the gesture has. What this amounted to was being teased with the video for "The Pleasure Principle" just prior to Janet taking the stage.
Then the band launched into their live rendition of the track, one of my favorites from 1986's Control LP.
After that, it was pretty much hit after hit, which was to be expected given that the tour is promoting her Number Ones collection (I pointed out the punctuation error while we waited for the show to start). I can't find a full setlist but they were pretty much all there - "Control," "Miss You Much," "If," "That's the Way Love Goes," "What Have You Done for Me Lately," "Nasty," "Rhythm Nation," "Escapade," "Together Again," ""You Want This," "Alright," "Love Will Never Do (Without You)," and more that I can't remember. There was even a bit of "Scream." Good stuff. There was also a nice little segment of ballads including "Come Back to Me," "Let's Wait Awhile" and "Again," the latter of which never fails to remind me of eighth grade dances. The only jams I really wanted to hear but were absent were "Black Cat" and "Go Deep." Alas and alack (though they have popped up on other dates).
At these pop shows, I'm always critical of lip syncing. It was one of the things that most bothered me about the Lady Gaga show, though it was expected. I watched and listened closely to Miss Jackson ('cause I'm nasty), and had a difficult time distinguishing whether or not she was singing live. These leads me to believe that either a) she was singing live or b) is adept at masking the fact that she's lip syncing. My guess is that ultimately, it was a mix of both.
While some of her dancing duties were relegated to the troupe of backup dancers she had on stage, Janet really brought it at key moments with the iconic moves from her signature videos ("Miss You Much," "Rhythm Nation," "If," for example). I was a little saddened that "Miss You Much" was done sans chair routine, though.
In short, it was a great show, well worth the ticket and the trip.
New York Dolls-Fool For You Baby Phoenix-Lisztomania Quadron-Slippin' Iggy & The Stooges-Gimme Danger Gogol Bordello-Wanderlust King The Dead Kennedys-Let's Lynch the Landlord British Sea Power-Stunde Null Low Anthem-Smart Flesh Billy Bragg-A New England The Decembrists-Rox in the Box Camera Obscura-My Maudlin Career Sia-Clap Your Hands Lily Allen-LDN Dresden Dolls-Coin Operated Boy Roxy Music-If There is Something Rush-Spirit of Radio (request) The Soft Pack-Down on Lovin' Dirty Projectors-Stillness is the Move MGMT-Electric Feel (immuzikation remix) Groove Armada-Paper Romance Rainbow Arabia-Without You Fever Ray-If I Had a Heart New Young Pony Club-The Get Go Jamie Lidell-When I Come Back Around Four Tet-Angel Echoes
This weekend, my sis and I are heading to Atlantic City to see Janet Jackson. While I should have seen her on The Velvet Rope tour and recently drooled over the setlist for the Rhythm Nation tour, I'm still way excited. Doubly so, as she's playing smaller venues, which will be groovy.
Anyhow, after a few St. Patty's cocktails, my sister implored me to make a Janet mix for the drive. Never one to turn down the opportunity for a good mix, I got to work a few days later, and this is what I came up with.
It's 90 minutes. Maybe that's breaking some sort of commandment of mixmaking, but I couldn't get it down to 80. And you know what? Back in the day we always made 90 minute mixes, because that was the standard cassette length. So there.
It's a legit, continuous mix. Her early albums haven't been remastered (to my knowledge), and I wanted to include some of those iconic segues, which often meant mixing the album segues with the Design of a Decade remastered tracks.
Nothing from her last few records, simply because I'm not that familiar with them. The last album I bought was All for You, and the last album that knocked my socks off was The Velvet Rope. And while there are some more mid-tempo tracks, there are no slow jams. Not that Miss Jackson doesn't make some sexy slow jams, but I viewed this as a dance mix of sorts.
There are also a few mixing flourishes that I'm kind of proud of. Most importantly, I tried to vary it up a bit and include some alternate mixes.
Enough blathering. Here's what I came up with:
Control intro Control If Let's Dance (segue) Miss You Much (Mama Mix) All for You Say You Do What Have You Done for Me Lately Nasty Black Cat Go Deep That's the Way Love Goes Someone to Call My Lover Together Again Pleasure Principle (Ultimix) Rhythm Nation Runaway Escapade (Got it Made 7" mix) Alright (12" R+B Mix feat. Heavy D) When I Think of You (remix)
Arctic Monkeys-Brick by Brick Grinderman-Mickey Mouse and the Goodbye Man The Raconteurs-Broken Boy Soldiers New Shouts-Kiss 4 Fun The Easybeats-Friday on My Mind Clinic-I'm Aware Eric McKeown-Cinematic Jessie Lee Mayfield-Grown Man Koop-Koop Island Blues Bird and the Bee-Again and Again (request) The Brutes-yourspace Lightspeed Champion-Marlene XTC-Paper and Iron Blur-Parklife Beach House-Used to Be Pains of Being Pure at Heart-Heart in Your Heartbreak Fleet Foxes-Tiger Mountain Peasant Song Danielson-Grow Up Soul Coughing-Casiotone Nation Rufus Thomas-Do the Funky Chicken Dr. Octagon-Earth People El Michaels Affair-Bring the Ruckus The Roots-Walk Alone Anarobik-Is it Real? Client-Drive Annie-Hey Annie
I finally received Kool Keith: Global Enlightenment Part I from Netflix. It's too damn short (35 min), but it's a stellar trio of interviews with Kool Keith - a sort of "day in the life" kind of document. At any rate, I promptly ordered a copy of the dvd for $1 via Amazon Marketplace. It has gems and life advice such as the 98 Year Old Fridgerator:
Kool Keith had a great run of albums in the late '90s, both under the Kool Keith name and a series of other monikers that he wove into a complex and ongoing storyline (Dr. Octagon, Dr. Doom, Black Elvis, etc.). Matthew was the last Kool Keith record that I really enjoyed. He resurrected Drs. Doom and Octagon in the last decade, but it seemed a little desperate to be honest.
For the funk of it, here's one of my favorites from the Black Elvis LP:
pre-recorded this week, featuring 5 very long songs.
Frank Zappa-The Adventures of Gregory Peccary Negativland-Helter Stupid Morton Subotnik-Silver Apples of the Moon The Blue Up?-h. sidakr of loops Mogwai-The Singing Mountain
T. Rex-Jeepster Wanda Jackson-Nervous Breakdown The Detroit Cobras-My Baby Loves a Secret Agent Clinic-Milk and Honey Twin Sister-Lady Daydream Sonnymoon-Soft Shoulders The Beatles-It's Only a Northern Song Deerhoof-The Merry Barracks Florence + the Machine-Dog Days Are Over Prince and the Revolution-Mountains (12" mix) A Sunny Day in Glasgow-Fall in Love Crystal Castles feat. Robert Smith-Not in Love (request!) Siouxsie and the Banshees-Dazzle Twin Shadow-Shooting Holes at the Moon Radiohead-Lotusflower Also-Unloaded Ween-The Stallion pt. 3 The Ting Tings-That's Not My Name Nancy Sinatra-Bang, Bang The Doors-Queen of the Highway Tapes n' Tapes-Desert Plane Yuck-Operation Faith No More-Last Cup of Sorrow Mazzy Star-Fade into You Portishead-Only You (live)
No really, I'm trying to be productive on a Friday night. But in doing so, I was listening to Nancy Sinatra's classic How Does That Grab You? LP, which ends with this favorite, put to good use in Kill Bill.
The Raveonettes-Aly, Walk with Me Bright Eyes-Firewall Mogwai-Mexican Grand Prix LCD Soundsystem-I Can Change Cut Copy-I Need You Midnight Oil-Put Down that Weapon Jessie Lea Mayfield-Blue Skies Again Bird and the Bee-Polite Dance Song Ducktails-The Razor's Edge Thought Gang-A Real Indication Was (Not Was)-I'm in Jail Cee-Lo Green-Bright Lights, Bigger City Robyn-Indestructable Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti-Can't Hear My Eyes Gary Numan/Tubeway Army-Are Friends Electric? Kraftwerk-Radioactivity Time Hecker-The Piano Drop Parliament-Funkentelechy Gap Band-I Don't Believe You Want to Get Up and Dance (Oops) NWA-Express Yourself
Hot on the heels of the White Stripes' recent breakup, indie dance crew LCD Soundsystem is also about to hang it up. After only three albums, it's a little sad to see them go. But kudos to James Murphy for going out on a high note. Last year's This is Happening was one of my favorite discs of 2010, and retains its replay value after nearly a year of incessant playing. I'd like to catch the last run of shows in NYC (a series at Terminal 5, leading up to the grand finale at MSG), but I doubt I'll make it. Alas.
Murphy and co. stopped by the Colbert Report recently to chat and perform one of This is Happening's standout tracks, "I Can Change."
Tennis-Baltimore Stone Roses-She Bangs all the Drums Dinosaur Jr.-Out There Grinderman-Heathen Child Johnny Cash-Rusty Cage My Bloody Valentine-Loomer (request) Phantogram-Bloody Palms Cage the Elephant-Right Before My Eyes Paul Westerberg-Things Iron & Wine-Free by the River Tame Impala-It's Not Meant to Be Patti Smith-Gloria The Damned-New Rose David Bowie-Oh! You Pretty Things Cut Copy-Take Me Over YACHT-Psychic City/Voodoo City Sly and the Family Stone-Loose Booty Brick-Dazz France Joli-Gonna Get Over You Moloko-Party Weirdo Yoko Ono-You're the One (Bimbo Jones remix) oOoOO-PCKRFCRMX Brian Eno-2 Forms of Anger Autechre-Acroyear 2
There are two possible scenarios when I go the used cd store. 1) I have a list of specific titles to seek out; 2) I randomly poke around to find some treasures. I've noticed that each of these scenarios shapes what I walk out of the store with. In scenario 1, it tends to be more recent items. In scenario 2, I end up filling gaps in my collection. My most recent trip was the latter.
Among those discs that I should already have owned is Mazzy Star's breakthrough, So Tonight That I Might See. I always loved "Fade Into You" (their biggest hit, topping out at #44), and my college roommate hipped me to the rest of the album. At any rate, I finally got around to rectifying this album's absence in my collection.
"Fade Into You" is a sublimely beautiful song, undoubtedly one of my favorite singles of the 1990s. It also is one of those tunes that very quickly gets the memory machine churning out all of the personal and temporal associations you might have with the song. The album as a whole is quite good, and holds up very well in 2011. It was also the perfect aural driving companion on a rainy, gray Monday following a Super Bowl loss.
There were two versions of the video. Watching the black and white clip, my thought was "this is the one that I remember." Watching the color clip, I thought "Wait, I remember this one too." Hypothesis: both were in rotation on MTV that year, or at least on 120 Minutes.
And for good measure, here is a performance from 120 Minutes.
As announced via the band's official website, The White Stripes are calling it quits. I don't find this new particularly surprising, and although they're one of my favorite bands of the last decade, I'm kind of glad they broke up before allowing the quality of their material to deteriorate. Get while the gettin's good, as they say. Plus, it's become increasingly clear that while the White Stripes were once Jack White's primary musical outlet, the band has in essence become a side project, or one of many side projects (the Dead Weather, the Raconteurs, the production work, the Third Man label/shop, etc.). As much as I love the White Stripes, in a way it seems like Jack is at the top of his game when his hands are in various creative pots. At the very least, it's a more interesting situation.
I admittedly came to the White Stripes party a little bit late. It wasn't until my time in Iowa that I got heavily into their music. Ergo, that time and place in my life will probably be my dominant memory association with their music. At any rate, I think it was my growing interest in garage rock (and devouring the Directors' Label Series of video compilations)that led me to look beyond the White Stripes' singles, digging into their first three albums in late 2004. The following summer they released what I still argue is their best album Get Behind Me Satan. Man, I listened to that album at least twice a day every day in the summer of 2005. I was even more stoked when I secured tickets to see them in action at Minneapolis' Orpheum Theater that fall. I remember being incredibly impressed by (mainly Jack's) ability to utilize effects and playing style to make up for the obvious lack of overdubs - and it worked.
I'm sure Jack White will continue to not sleep and compete with ?uestlove for busiest man in the music business, and I'm sure his work will continue to be interesting. End of an era for sure, though!
Someday the band will inevitably release a compilation of music videos, and they've had some great ones. Here's one of my favorites:
The B-52s-Planet Claire Candie Payne-I Wish I Could Have Loved You More Wanda Jackson-You Know I'm No Good Iron and Wine-Me and Lazarus Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros-40 Day Dream Tennis-Baltimore David Lowery-Raise Up On Honey Buffalo Springfield-Expecting to Fly Simon and Garfunkel-America The XX-VCR Bat for Lashes-What's a Girl to Do Yeasayer-Madder Red Miike Snow-Burial Bjork-Joga Ikonika-Idiot Phonecia-JPACE aTelecine-It's All Write Throbbing Gristle-Convincing People Coil-Tainted Love Elastica-Line Up Santigold-Unstoppable Sleigh Bells-Rill Rill Duran Duran-New Moon on Monday Cee-Lo Green-Bright Lights, Bigger City Thomas Dolby-Airwaves
Wiz Khalifa-Black and Yellow Brazilian Girls-Jique Broadcast-Papercuts Twin Shadow-Tyrant Destroyed Daft Punk-Armory Robyn Hitchcock-So You Think You're In Love The Pains of Being Pure at Heart-The Contender New Shouts-Save Me Belle & Sebastian-I Want the World to Stop Tapes n' Tapes-One in the World Loretta Lynn-Have Mercy Ani Difranco-What How When Where (Why How) Delorean-Real Love Crystal Castles feat. Robert Smith-Not in Love Scissor Sisters-Kiss You Off Chromeo-When the Night Falls Dam Funk-Mirrors ElectricType-Watt is it to Love Someone Indeep-Last Night a DJ Saved My Life Herbie Hancock-Rockit Run DMC-Peter Piper LL Cool J-Big Ole Butt Sheila E-Holly Rock Cameo-Candy
This song has become one of my favorites off of Chromeo's Business Casual LP from last year, and I just stumbled across an excellent stripped down version from a CBC broadcast:
Smokey Robinson and the Miracles-Mickey's Monkey Otis Redding-Shake! Wilson Pickett-Ninety Nine and a Half Just Won't Do Percy Wiggins-It Didn't Take Much for Me The Impressions-You Must Believe Me Jay and the Techniques-Apple, Peaches, Pumpkin Pie The Shirelles-Sha La La Martha and the Vandellas-Jimmy Mack Bob and Earl-The Harlem Shuffle Ray Charles-Don't You Know The Delfonics-Trying to Make a Fool of Me Aretha Franklin-Ain't No Way Jimmy Radcliffe-Long After Tonight is Over Sam Cooke-Good Times The Staples Singers-Respect Yourself The Velvettes-He Was Really Saying Something Joe Tex-You Said a Bad Word Clarence 'Frogman' Henry-I Ain't Got a Home Chairmen of the Board-Give Me Just a Little More Time Marvin Gaye-Wonderful One The Stylistics-Betcha By Golly Wow! Roberta Flack-To Love Somebody Isaac Hayes-Soulsville Jackson 5-2, 4, 6, 8 Shirley Ellis-The Hand Clapping Song Troy Sams and the Lala Wilson Band-A Thousand Miles Apart The Parliaments-Look at What I Almost Missed Sam and Dave-You Got Me Hummin' Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings-The Dap Dip Al Green-Love and Happiness James Brown-Ain't That a Groove Jo Ann Garrett-Goin' Man Huntin' Stevie Wonder-Heaven Help Us All
For years, I've bemoaned something that Prince, MJ and Madonna all have in common: Each has at least one video collection on the market, but none of the 1980s triple crown of pop has a definitive collection. That tide appears to be shifting. While it's still not "complete," Madonna's 2009 collection Celebration is a fairly comprehensive 2 dvd set covering 1983-2009 (still no "Gambler?" For shame). Prince's incredibly slim The Hits Video Collection remains his only career-spanning collection, and lacks many of the Purple One's promo films (too many to bother listing).
And then there's Michael Jackson. The artist who rather early on redefined music video as an art form and MTV as a cultural force. 1992's HIStory collection gathered the hits, some in truncated form (on the VHS release anyway). The companion volume repeated some of the hits from volume 1, along with videos from the HIStory album. 2001's Number Ones DVD rehashes the big hits, most in their edited forms.
So despite it being an obvious effort to cash in on posthumous Michael Mania, I was excited to get wind of Vision, a 3-DVD career spanning set of MJ's videos in original, unedited form.
The set chronicles Michael's career as a visual artist from Off the Wall through Invincible. And to have the full-length, unedited versions is a treat, as I hadn't seen many of these since their original MTV premieres. The 18+ minute version of "Bad," for example. Or the 9+ minute cut of "The Way You Make Me Feel." Or the 9+ minute version of "Smooth Criminal."
There is one censored cut, however. While the full 11 minutes of "Black or White" is here (zipper pulling, crotch grabbing, Simpsons' outro and all!), it is not the originally aired version, which included some graffiti-ed racial slurs in the dance segment. I believe that version is still available on Dangerous: The Short Films, however, so chalk one up for cashing in on those with completest tendencies (moi?).
It's also great to see the lesser known cuts, like "Another Part of Me," "Liberian Girl," "Give in to Me" and "They Don't Care About Us." It seems they were really going for a definitive collection here.
So much so that the bonus disc includes 7 videos that don't strictly fall under the banner of Michael Jackson - "Enjoy Yourself," "Blame it on the Boogie" and "Can You Feel It" (all by the post-Motown Jacksons), "Say Say Say" (the so-cheesy-it's-good duet with Sir Paul), Spike Lee's alternate "prison" cut of "They Don't Care About Us," "Why" (with nephews 3T, though none of them are Jermajesty) and the previously unreleased "One More Chance."
It wasn't until this bonus disc that I recalled a few cuts that are in fact absent. If we're talking Jacksons videos, absent here is "Torture" (which is in fact, a pretty torturous cut) and "2300 Jackson Street." If I recall my Pop-Up Video correctly, MJ didn't actually appear in the "Torture" clip, but they borrowed a wax figure from Madame Tusseaud's (!). Wikipedia also claims video clips for "Dreamer," "Goin' Places," "Even Though You're Gone," "Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)" and "Body," though this is all news to me. My guess is most of these were clips from Bandstand and the like that aired on outlets like The Box.
Oh wow...there is definitely a video for "Body!" (Though again, no MJ.)
Thank god for YouTube. And of course, I had to check all of the others. There is a video for "Dreamer" [embedding disabled by request. BOOOOOO]
"Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)" -
"Even Though You're Gone" -
"Goin' Places" -
Of course, some of these may actually be pulled from the Jacksons Variety Show.
Despite the absence of some of the Jacksons cuts, the collection is quite comprehensive (though I believe the video for "Gone Too Soon" is different than what I remembered).
It's a good thing that I bought this set over a semester break, because I ended up watching the bulk of it in one sitting. It does suck you in, particularly on the first disc. Sure, there's a dropoff point on disc 2, but if even the lesser videos weren't included, people like me would be quick to point out the omissions.
All told, this is the Michael Jackson video collection we've been waiting for. Given that it only touts 7 cuts, the bonus disc could have been padded with a number of other clips (the aforementioned Jacksons material, "We Are the World," etc.") But I'm splitting hairs here. Vision may be a bit of a rush job, but as the estate floods the market, this is one of the items that most fans actually want.
The sad thing is, I don't think we'll see anything like this from Prince until he dies, but that's another story altogether.
In the late 1980s, I pumped a lot of quarters into Moonwalker at the local arcade. You got to dance, hear midi-versions of MJ hits, turn into a robot and even Bubbles was in the game! It was the one regret I had about choosing a Super Nintendo over Sega Genesis (although, I felt vindicated years later when I learned the Genesis version paled to the arcade game).
When Michael Jackson: The Experience was announced, I was both excited and skeptical. But as gameplay videos began to leak out in the fall, I knew I'd have to get it sooner or later. The game has met with mixed reviews. Personally, I think it's a hoot. Following on-screen guides, you use your Wii-mote to replicate MJ's on-screen moves. Greater accuracy garners higher point values. It's a great party game (especially after a few beverages), and you will work up a sweat. All tracks are the original masters, although a couple are edited for length.
I will say that the track collection could have been stronger. The most iconic cuts are here, but there are also a few very questionable choices. For example, "The Girl is Mine:"
Other headscratchers include "Dirty Diana," "Heal the World," "Will You Be There" and "Money." For a dance game based on an artist known for high octane pop, these ballads are neither challenging nor particularly interesting to play. I would gladly have foresaken these cuts for "Jam," "PYT" or "Scream," all of which are excluded from the game. The upcoming PS3/XBox versions will have two extra cuts however. The equally pointless "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" and "Blood on the Dance Floor," which could be interesting.
Ballads aside, the game is a blast. One edge the Wii version has over the PS3/Xbox versions (at least from the press material I've seen) is that the Wii game puts you inside of the iconic videos for MJ's hits, while the other versions put players on a concert stage. For an artist whose popularity rests largely on music video innovation, it seems odd to forgo drawing on that familiar imagery.
On the other hand, the Xbox version is likely to have the best control. I haven't used a Kinnect, but the with one hand held Wii-mote as your only measure of movement, you can bs the moves if you really care to. Hell, you could stand still and simply move your hand in the appropriate directions and get the points (similar to the vocal in Rock Band being based on pitch and rhythm rather than actual phonetics). But that defeats the purpose, no? Might as well go all out and burn a few calories.
In sum, the song collection could be better, but other than that, I think that most Michael Jackson fans will enjoy the game, and that cocktails will be spilt on many a living room rug as players dance the night away.
Up next: review of the Michael Jackson's Vision dvd box.
The Creation-Making Time Flash and the Casuals-Uptight Tonight The Starlites-Everybody Needs Somebody Gore Gore Girls-Astral Man The Sonics-Do You Love Me The Time Stoppers-I Need Love The Eyes-I'm Rowed Out Them-Half as Much The Yo-Yo's-Leaning on You Pink Floyd-See Emily Play The Count Five-Psychotic Reaction The Mourning Reign-Evil-Hearted You The Detroit Cobras-Cha Cha Twist The Brogues-I Ain't No Miracle Worker The Animals-Baby Let Me Take You Home The Monks-Oh How to Do Now The Kinks-Louie Louie The Chesterfield Kings-Baby Doll The Fleshtones-The Girl from Baltimore The Action-I'll Keep on Holding on Dave Clark Five-Any Way You Want It The Rolling Stones-I Wanna Be Your Man The Balloon Farm-A Question of Temperature Yankee Rebels-Hey Girl Paul Revere & the Raiders-Kicks Love-Seven and Seven Is The Pretty Things-Rosalyn The Swamp Rats-It's Not Easy Davy Jones and the Lower Third-You've Got a Habit of Leaving Lyres-Don't Give it Up Now The Who-Lies Les Fleur de Lys-Circles The Standells-Dirty Water The Nerves-One Way Ticket The Golliwogs-Fight Fire The Strangeloves-I Want Candy
