Tuesday, 23 July 2013
Brook Benton. Let Me Fix It.
Brook Benton - Let Me Fix It
The fun and funky "Let Me Fix It" was the b-side of "Shoes" and was part of Benton's 1970 Cotillion LP Home Style. The tune starts off with Brook casually sings the first verse over a jazzy organ rhythm before the Dixie Flyers come in and bring a swamp soul groove to the proceedings. Brook opens up then, and with his velvet baritone he sweetly but aggressively - and apparently successfully - woos a female vocalist (uncredited on the Cotillion 45, but actually Cissy Houston, whose Sweet Inspirations provided backup vocals on the LP), whose responses to his lines change from sassy to inviting over the tune's four-and-a-half minutes. Benton, who wrote the tune, is having a lot of fun here, and by the time he's running scales with the phrase "fix it" by the end, he's won the listener over also. Fix it, Brook!
After a long and successful tenure with Mercury Records, Brook Benton's career had started to wane, but hooking up with Atlantic in 1968 gave his career a major shot in the arm. He was assigned to the Cotillion subsidiary and he struck paydirt with Tony Joe White's atmospheric "Rainy Night in Georgia," a major R&B and pop hit in 1969. Benton stayed with Cotillion through 1972 but never hit big as he did with "Rainy Night in Georgia." He did, however, record a lot of good material, including a nice soul version of the Frank Sinatra anthem "My Way" and today's selection. After he left Cotillion he moved from label to label, leaving behind records on Stax (the great "I Keep Thinking To Myself," my personal favorite) and All Platinum, among others, but he never matched the successes of his early Mercury sides and the Cotillion material.
Monday, 22 July 2013
Fantastic Plastic Machine - Bachelor Pad (F.P.M. Edit)
"Bachelor Pad (f.p.m. edit)" was featured on the Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me soundtrack
Fantastic Plastic Machine - its the creation of Japanese producer Tomoyuki Tanaka. Tanaka draws inspiration from Pizzicato Five's retro` new wave but Fantastic Plastic Machine (Emperor Norton, 1998) is even more of a studio product, a kitsch montage of cliches borrowed from western pop music, a collection of ultra-hip, glamourous cross-cultural tunes (composed and recorded between London, Berlin, Amsterdam and Tokyo) delivered by guest vocalists over a bossanova-derived beat.
Mostly, Tanaka indulges in futuristic lounge music (Bachelor Pad, L'Aventure Fantastique, First Class '77) but his forte could be the surreal semi-orchestral pieces that manage to the border between Frank Zappa, the Ventures and Burt Bacharach (Fantastic Plastic World, Dear Mr Salesman, Allen Ginsberg).
The international flavor is even stronger on Luxury (Emperor Norton, 1999), thanks to the artificial trendiness (and real catchiness) of Honolulu Calcutta, Electric Lady Land and Mr Fantasy Love.
Tanaka reveals his passion for sexy dance music in You Must Learn All Night Long and Lotto, while letting his eclectic and witty universe get out of control in the cartoonish in Bossa For Jackie and I've Forgotten My Fagotto.
Unfortunately, after so many parodies of muzak, Beautiful (Emperor Norton, 2001) is beginning to sound like muzak. Love Is Psychedelic, Beautiful Days, Paragon still display Tanaka's phenomenal skills at orchestration, but too many tracks are merely derivative.
Wednesday, 17 July 2013
Mass Effect Citadel Soundtrack - M8S Rates
The Mass Effect 3 Soundtrack was composed by Sascha Dikiciyan & Cris Velasco, who composed the scores for Mass Effect 2 DLC packs Kasumi's Stolen Memory and Arrival; Sam Hulick, who worked on the scores for Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2; Christopher Lennertz, who composed the scores for Mass Effect 2 DLC packs Overlord and Lair of the Shadow Broker; and Clint Mansell, known for scoring films such as Requiem for a Dream and The Fountain. Faunts returned to provide a song for the credits, "Das Malefitz", after an absence from Mass Effect 2.
Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2 Composer Jack Wall did not return for Mass Effect 3, however several tracks from the previous games do return, though they are not included on the soundtrack.
The soundtrack was initially available only through purchase of the Mass Effect 3 N7 Collector's Edition or Digital Deluxe Edition, though it became available on the iTunes store on April 24, 2012 at a cost of US$6.99.[1]
Sunday, 14 July 2013
Saturday, 13 July 2013
What'cha gonna do about it - Small Faces
"Whatcha Gonna Do About It" is the debut single released by the English R&B, mod group Small Faces, released in the UK on 6 August 1965. The song peaked at number 14 in the UK Singles Chart, and stayed on chart for a total of 14 weeks.[1]
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