The News Review:
- Best films of 2007 were sprinkled throughout the year
- Patti Smith: Concerts and Music Events on washingtonpost.com’s…
- Three generations of a Prague musical family talk to Radio Prague
- Athens Music Scene
Best films of 2007 were sprinkled throughout the year
SitNews – Dec 31, 2007
While the plot may sound prurient — angry black farmer (Samuel L. Jackson) chains a young white nympho (Christina Ricci) to a radiator till her demons flee — the film is loving and respectful. Plus it can be a whole lot of fun with awesome blues music and Brewer’s trademark humor. "Away From Her" — Actress Sarah Polley makes an outstanding debut as a writer-director with this love story about an older couple dealing with the onset of Alzheimer’s. Realistic about the devastating effects of the disease the film focuses on the life and love the couple (Julie Christie Gordon Pinsent) have shared rather than on medical talk. It satisfies on every front.
Patti Smith: Concerts and Music Events on washingtonpost.com’s…
Washington Post – Dec 31, 2007
“My Blakean Year” for instance was embellished with words about human hearts and peace and love and mercy. Forever the provocateur Smith even prefaced the song with an ad-libbed verse about the District’s campaign for statehood. Nodding to the news of the day Smith also addressed the assassination of Benazir Bhutto in an apparently improvised spoken-word piece set to buzzing music. Smith took lyrical liberties too with pieces that weren’t her own. “) Here a downshifted version of Nirvana’s raging anthem “Smells Like Teen Spirit” included a few extra words about its author Kurt Cobain. And a dramatic cover of the Jimi Hendrix classic “Are You Experienced?” included a poetic flourish in which Smith referenced Pinocchio the belly of the whale human flowers and tiger maulings… In fact there was a stunning quietude to some of her material such “Ghost Dance” and the jazzy torch song “We Three. “I’m sorry — I have become a folk singer” she said by way of introducing “Beneath the Southern Cross” which indeed began as a loping acoustic waltz built around the strummy guitars of Smith and her longtime collaborator Kaye. But the song eventually picked up velocity volume and electricity turning into something more muscular as Smith howled into the microphone while Jackson Smith fired a volley of scorching Southern-blues licks on his guitar. (He seemed more like the long-lost Allman Brother than the son of Smith and the late MC5 guitarist Fred “Sonic” Smith. )But it was hardly the show’s most incendiary moment. That came while Patti Smith was away from the stage taking a bathroom break while Kaye led the band through the 1960s garage-rock nugget “Pushin’ Too Hard” by the Seeds. The group bashed and burned through the song sounding more feral than at any other point during the show.
Three generations of a Prague musical family talk to Radio Prague
radio.cz – Dec 31, 2007
Therewas always music around so at first I started just hearing it passivelywithout paying too much attention but then when I was about nine or tenI became really interested in rock music at first and then blues. WhateverI was interested in was very easy to find somewhere in the house and I wasvery much encouraged to make music ? to play. ?You started performing with top Czech jazz musicians very early. When I was fourteen I started playing in the clubs inPrague.
Athens Music Scene
The Athens News – Dec 31, 2007
It’s not Thursday already. This is a special Monday Athens Music Scene in honor of New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day today and Tuesday. Nearly everyone has his or her top-10 music lists. I find it hard to remember that much. My musical memories tend to be tied up in the gigs that I play… Their voluminous set is always a way to get your momentum back. Wheels on Fire are currently in a neck-and-neck race for one of the most popular bands in town. Smiling SkullCold Bargain drives a hard bargain with their Stevie Ray-drenched blues-rock. New Year’s Eve has them rocking out at the Skull. I believe I’ve brought a few in down there myself!Dairy BarnThe Dairy Barn plays host to The Wingnuts tonight. The Wingnuts are the perfect New Year’s Eve band. Their eclectic mix of roots-rockin’ material and fancy tuxedos (reference file photo) has these talented musicians appealing to a wide range of people; a little something for everyone.