Queen Rock Montreal
Written by Charlie Doherty



The long-awaited DVD release of what was formerly known as the We Will Rock You concert video, now titled Queen Rock Montreal by Queen does justice to the classic hard rock band's image as ambitious, super-talented songwriters and stadium-conquering performers. In other words, it was totally worth the wait (and released late last year).

The DVD captures the best of the quartet's two-night stand in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on November 24 and 25, 1981, which, as fate would have it was ten years to the date before singer Freddie Mercury died of AIDS. It's a historic release too, as the shows that were filmed were the first ever by any group to be recorded on full cinema format 35mm. They were also the only shows Queen ever filmed in their entirety, and the sound and video has been remastered; you can watch the DVD in PCM Stereo or DTS Surround Sound.

It's true that you could get a 2-DVD version of this release that also includes Queen's famous Live Aid performance. But if you're worried about getting your dollar's worth with this single DVD, have no such fear, as 26 tracks will keep you busy and entertained for a long time. Also, Queen setlists during this tour didn't change much from night to night, so even though two short versions of "Flash" and "The Hero" are not shown on this DVD (because they were never filmed), it feels like a full show at just under 100 minutes. [You can, however find those two tracks on the CD version of this release]

From the start of the show and throughout the film, it was clear the fearless foursome came to play and play hard and tight. A hyper-fast, semi-punk rock version of "We Will Rock You" got much of the 18,000-strong Canadians into it immediately, which was followed by a string of pure hard rock tracks and sophisticated, epic rock mixed with symphonic/Broadway-ish guitar and piano interplay. Songs like "Killer Queen" and much later, the explosive mega hit "Bohemian Rhapsody" exemplify that latter side of their sound.

Queen may have had hits that defined "stadium rock" — think "We Are The Champions" and "WWRY" — but as they show on the DVD, they could be as heavy as Black Sabbath ("Let Me Entertain You," "Dragon Attack") or just plain rock your socks off like Boston ("Tie Your Mother Down"). And the red hot riffs to those songs and more are executed to perfection by Brian May on his "Red Special" guitar and John Deacon on bass guitar.

There's something in the water in England that has apparently produced so many memorable rock and roll frontmen since the original "British Invasion" in the mid-1960s. Roger Daltrey, Robert Plant, Mick Jagger, Ozzy Osbourne and David Bowie are just some of the legendary English lads who have and continue to influence rock and rollers the world over.

But perhaps there was none more talented however, than the late Freddie Mercury. His operatic voice was uniquely perfect for both his band's most theatrical material and its more muscular, kick-ass brand of rock. Beyond that, he was a flamboyant stage performer and accomplished musician (piano, guitar). And it shows on this DVD in many of the aforementioned songs, including his seemingly effortless singing and piano movements on "Bohemian Rhapsody."

Elsewhere in the set, May and Mercury show their music could be as powerful stripped down to a microphone and acoustic guitar as their grander material, especially on the majestic "Love of My Life."

In another first, the Montreal DVD marks the live debut of "Under Pressure." And though the recorded version featured Mercury collaborating with David Bowie on vocals, the latter's voice wasn't noticeably missing on the live debut, as Queen is a band in which all four members can sing and sing well, this tune included. Drummer Roger Taylor in fact, got to show off his Rod Stewart-like throaty vocals on the moderately paced track "I'm In Love With My Car" earlier in the set.

While one can enjoy the whole show without interruption, viewers also have the option to view it with audio commentary by Roger Taylor and Brian May. There, we learn lots of useful information, including the fact that May uses a (freaky-sounding) harmonizer effect pedal during a break in the psychedelic tune "Get Down Make Love" that was specially made for him. They also tell you that Freddie, who plays an acoustic guitar during the rockabilly-ish hit "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" actually wrote the song on guitar during a bath!

In closing, I must admit that while I was familiar with many of Queen's big hits, I never really got into them and fully appreciated the talent of this band. With this concert video however, it's official: I am now a big-time Queen fan. There's no going back now. And it is my hope that any of you other casual Queen fans out there will take this opportunity to pick up the Queen Rock Montreal DVD and experience this same transformation. I doubt you'll regret it, as the band was arguably at their peak during this time period. I know I didn't.

Friedrich Cerha - Concerto for Violoncello and Orchestra & Franz Schreker - Chamber Symphony in One Movement
Written by Jordan Richardson

ECM’s New Series has been giving listeners a chance to explore modern classical music, allowing new audiences to become exposed to wonderful pieces of music they may not be familiar with. Released in March of 2008, it contains two magnificent compositions. One piece is somewhat more contemporary than the other, but both pieces bond in an inimitable way to create a charming compilation.

The first piece features cellist Heinrich Schiff performing with the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra on a composition dedicated to him by Austrian composer Friedrich Cerha. Cerha’s “Concerto for violoncello and orchestra” is from 1989/1996.

Cerha’s concerto is an unconventional piece of music that requires a few listens in order for the meat of the work to sink in. It is a passionate sonic expedition, one that requires attention and persistence. Some of the composition functions as a sort of pursuit, while other portions settle down and provide tranquil tones. The piece is fitted with the sole purpose of Schiff’s cello, of course, and his adept performance is beguiling and thrilling.


Friedrich Cerha was born in Vienna in 1926. Currently 82 years old, he is often considered to be Austria’s greatest living composer. In 1958, Cerha’s commitment to the spread of modern classical music manifested itself in the establishment of “die reihe,” an ensemble he formed with Kurt Schwertsik, the Austrian composer. With this composition, Cerha is making his ECM debut.

The second piece on the recording is more straightforward, but no less compelling. Franz Schreker’s “Kammersymphonie in einem Satz (Chamber Symphony in one movement) is a pleasant-sounding piece which logically flows in a more melodious direction than the previous work of art on the recording. Schreker’s composition is from 1916.

Schreker’s work was written in the middle of World War I to signify and commemorate the anniversary of the Vienna Academy of Music. His music signifies a refusal to play within the rules. While very melodic, the exploration of sound from Schrecker is perceptible instantaneously. The piece’s polished preamble, for instance, captures his impracticality with a cheerful flute and affectionate violins.

Franz Schreker primarily composed operas. His compositions are mostly noted for being an amalgamation of the aesthetics of the time. His music is distinguished for its experimentation with tone and pitch, which suited the stage for which he composed.

The ECM New Series continues to put out first-rate contemporary classical music, safeguarding the standards of these great composers and musicians by providing intelligent liner notes and striking packaging. The music showcased in the New Series is a must-have for collectors of modern classical music or rookies stumbling gawkily through the genre like me.

Earth, Wind & Fire In Concert
Written by Richard Marcus



As hard as it might be to believe, especially considering what you hear on the radio these days, there was a time when a transistor radio was all you needed to hear a whole range of interesting music. During the daylight hours it would pick up your local AM radio station which played music from across North America ranging from the latest release by Alice Cooper to the new Barry White single.

At nights, especially on a clear cold night in winter, you could pick up radio signals from as far off as Chicago and Detroit while lying in bed in your house in Ottawa, Canada. You could fall asleep listening to the sounds of Motown, Chicago blues, soul, and classic rhythm and blues (R & B). Of course, those were the days long before the night sky was filled with the senseless chatter of cell phones and broadcast information from countless communication satellites.

It was on one such clear, cold, night around thirty-five years ago that I first heard the high clear voice that I would forever associate with the band Earth, Wind & Fire. I don't know if it was the year that "Shining Star" was a hit, but I'll never forget the first time I ever heard the band that Maurice White founded. There was something close to magical about the sound of those harmonies issuing out of my radio in the dark of the night; like they were a star shining for me in my bedroom.

One of the things that always pissed me off about the Disco era was how bands like Earth, Wind, and Fire seemed to disappear from the radio. Even though their music had to be some of the most danceable I'd ever heard. It somehow didn't seem to satisfy whatever it was the disco bunnies wanted from their music. Maybe it was the fact that Earth, Wind & Fire sang songs that might make you think and feel while disco's sole object seemed to be to render its listeners into unfeeling drones.

While they might not have getting the radio play they deserved, at least up here in Canada, they were one of the biggest draws on the concert circuit with a wonderfully choreographed and elaborate stage show utilizing laser beams and elaborate lights. Having never had the opportunity to see them, I was happy to see that Eagle Rock Entertainment had released a DVD from a concert they had done in 1981, simply called Earth, Wind & Fire In Concert

The concert was recorded at the Oakland Coliseum on December 30th and 31st 1981 for Home Box Office. Eagle Rock has taken those tapes and digitally re-mastered the audio for both Dolby 5.1 and DTS surround sound systems so modern systems can get the most out the music. There's not much that can be done about video quality on these old tapes, but thankfully the original film was in great condition and there's only one or two occasions where the video has a bit of a flaw, and even that is just a little bit of colour streaking probably caused by a light refracting in a camera lens.

As for the concert itself, it's everything I could have hopped for. First of all, the band has been expanded by a four piece horn section. There's now fourteen guys on stage in wonderfully elaborate and colourful costumes, moving and dancing in perfect sync with the music and each other. The show opens with an elaborate display of lights and smoke announcing the arrival of the band, who appear either out of hidden entrances or via hydraulic lifts from under the stage.

Unlike a lot of bands who have used elaborate light shows to hide any deficiencies that they might have musically, once the music starts in earnest, the lights and lasers are put on the back burner and the music takes center stage with Earth, Wind & Fire. The stage was set up as a series of ramps and risers, with the horn section having a home base stage left, drums stage right, and keyboards located just behind the drum kit. Dotted around the front of the stage, where a couple of ramps converged, was the home of the vocalists. Stationed around them were little islands of percussion instruments, where one or other of the vocalists would take a turn when not singing lead.

Meanwhile, the bass player and guitar players were in constant motion; one moment standing far down stage with the vocalist, the next scampering - in perfect time with the music - up and down the ramps on all sides. Amazing as it may sound, in spite of it seeming like all fourteen people being in constant motion, it never became chaotic on stage. The choreography was so tight that nobody was doing anything that didn't fit with what was going on with the music or what was happening around them. It was like a set of interlocking cogs that took their impetus from the central gear that was the singers.

For, in spite of all that surrounded them, the vocalists remain the center of attention, and rightly so. The amazing falsetto work of Philip Bailey, which had sent shivers up my spine thirty-five years ago when I heard him singing "Shining Star", was still as strong as ever. He and Maurice White took the lion's share of the leads, and each of them were charismatic enough to be that cog that powered the rest of the band. They were so good, that I was only mildly disappointed that "Shining Star" was reduced to just being included as part of a medley of hits at the halfway point of the concert.

Aside from that though all the hits were there and the concert ended with a rousing version of "Let's Groove". Earth, Wind & Fire were a wonderful fusion of funk, soul, and R & B, equally at ease creating hip shaking dance music as they were with soul stirring ballads. In an era when plastic dance music predominated, these guys were one of the few bands with real heart and soul. The DVD Earth, Wind & Fire In Concert captures that magic, and is an unique opportunity to experience them during the zenith of their career.

E=MC2
Mariah Carey







She's proclaimed emancipation before, but Mariah Carey's never sounded as free as she does on her 10th album. The usual hummable radio hip-hop and bold ballads are here, in pristine form. ("Bye Bye," a memorial for a lost loved one, is particularly effective.) But so are some coy surprises, like the irresistible "I'm That Chick" (which covertly samples "Off the Wall" for an early Michael Jackson disco bounce) and the Swizz Beatz-produced "O.O.C.," which is catchy enough to make that the vernacular's standard abbreviation for "out of control." Carey even digs deep and pulls up "Side Effects," a Scott Storch-produced, dark hip-hop track that follows a passive woman's descent into domestic abuse ("Sleeping with the enemy/ Aware that he was smothering every last part of me"). Capping it off with Bible-quoting, upright-piano gospel ("I Wish You Well"), Carey's made a pop album with equal parts levity and gravity. —Kerri Mason

by: newsdesk

As the Mystery Jets prepare to release their pop-smash, Two Doors Down on June 2nd, they have announced details of a new version of their critically acclaimed second album –' Twenty One’.

The re-packaged album will come complete with their cover of Aztec Camera’s 'Somewhere In My Heart’ – a subtle nod to the 80s pop inspiration behind current single 'Two Doors Down’ and the classic indie-pop sounds of the album overall. The album will be available in a new, brightly coloured hot-to-trot sleeve from June 9th.

The video for the single continues on high rotation across the board, hitting the top of the NME TV chart last week. Radio 1 have wisely moved the song up to their B list, while 6 music, XFM and GCap have all added it to their playlists.

Mystery Jets play a live show at Londons Forum next Wednesday (May 28th) in aid of Cancer Research. This is preceded by a show at Liverpool’s Sound City on May 27th.

The band head out on tour with The Zutons (the forest tour), from June 5.

Music Review: Donna Summer - Crayons
Written by Donald Gibson



Too often with pop music, especially with dance-oriented music, slick production techniques supersede the expectation of an artist possessing actual singing ability. Clever hooks and beats compensate for any vocal deficiencies, rendering the artist all but incidental to the overall creation. Such was certainly the case in the age of disco, yet Donna Summer stood out specifically because, in addition to delivering some of the ‘70s’ most exquisitely sophisticated and sensual songs, she could sing the hell out of them.

On her first album of new material in seventeen years, Crayons, Summer is invigorated and sensational, demonstrating to all aspiring divas and dynamos that nothing takes the place of genuine talent.

In ways that embrace her classic sound while exploring diverse and contemporary sonic textures, Summer thrives here with songs simmering with discothèque thrust and body-rocking bravado. Throbbing, swirling beats surge through irresistible joints like “Fame (The Game)” and “Mr. Music” while tracks like “Science Of Love” and “Stamp Your Feet” boast more straightforward (though no less danceable) rhythms. Elements of world music accentuate songs such as the Latin-tinged “Drivin’ Down Brazil” and the reggae-fortified title track, the latter a sizzling collaboration with Ziggy Marley.

Ever the eminent and seasoned songstress, Summer employs her voice with just the right amount of sensuality and might. When a song calls for subtlety, as on the joyful love ballad, “Sand On My Feet,” she sings in delicate, almost girlish tones. When the mood and tempo intensify, as on the seven-minute jam, “I’m A Fire,” she throws down like nobody’s business.

Donna Summer’s most obvious allusion to her ‘70s zenith comes on “The Queen Is Back,” in which she name checks “On The Radio” and “Love To Love You Baby” almost to suggest that she can do now what she did back when…and then some.

In listening to Crayons, it’s clear that the lady does indeed live up to her legend and still can sing, with consummate and authentic skill, until the last dance.

the Runaways
Japanese Singles Collection

reviewer: Andy Snipper

For a short time in 1975 & 76 the Runaways were the queens of the LA rock scene with Kim Fowley promoting them and Mercury Records behind them they had everything going for them – except that they were seen as a creation of Kim Fowley and a gimmick in that they were a bunch of 15 & sixteen year olds who weren’t old enough to enter the places they were playing in. Japan took them to its corrupt heart specifically because they were so young and western looking and by 1978 they were no more.

If that was the whole story I wouldn’t be writing this now – needless to say it isn’t: they were actually a kickass rock band who produced a bunch of singles that were good rock regardless of gender and in Joan Jett and Lita Ford had players who were destined for Hall of Fame status.

This collection is purely about the singles that sold in Japan and there is an angle there that cannot be ignored because the band were always about real rock and in Japan they were often viewed as a modern day Shangri-Las and played up to the 'little innocents’ tag but there are some damn fine singles here nonetheless – 'Cherry Bomb’, 'Blackmail’, 'Little Sister’ all show the bands capabilities at their best and they absolutely pulverize Slade’s 'Mama Weer all Crazee Now’ although the Beatles 'Eight Days A Week’ has all the punch of a narcoleptic on valium.

The Runaways were – to me at least – a lot like The Sweet were over here: always wanting to be taken seriously as a rock band but best at making great pop/rock singles.
This collection is 14 tracks of The Runaways as they were meant to be heard.

Scarlett Johansson
Anywhere I Lay My Head



(Rhino)

Scarlett Johansson’s debut album is a delight. How much of that excellence the actress (Lost in Translation, Woody Allen’s Match Point) is actually responsible for is beside the point. Yes, her voice is limited — think lower-register Sinead O’Connor without the banshee yelling and the nimble phrasing — but it gets the job done. And when there’s so much marvelous stuff going on around it, from the Tom Waits songs to the soundscapes lovingly assembled by TV on the Radio’s Dave Sitek, does it really matter?

The title track recasts the Waits classic as an Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark song, complete with boozy horn sounds and engaging synthesized-drum fills. “I Don’t Want to Grow Up” is reborn as a Pet Shop Boys remix. And when David Bowie’s majestic backing vocals kick in on “Fannin’ Street,” the results are stunning.

It’s a trick that Johansson and her collaborators pull off time and again on Anywhere I Lay My Head — even on “Song for Jo,” the album’s sole original, co-written by Johansson and Sitek — and one that future actresses-turned-singers should study. Sticking to what you do best generally works out just fine.

LIFE DEATH LOVE AND FREEDOM



John Mellencamp

John Mellencamp, 56, is feeling his age and then some on Life Death Love and Freedom. It's an album presented like a deathbed testament: bleak, solitary, bluesy and unbowed. In Don't Need This Body, Mellencamp sings, ''All I got left is a headful of memories/And a thought of my upcoming death,'' and that just about sums up the album.

Everywhere he looks, he sees shattered expectations and looming sorrow, both in his own future and in the wider world. And where, in decades past, he would shrug off any odds against him and come up grinning, now he strives for simple perseverance. It's a brave album in the way it sets aside all his old consolations.

His voice is gruff and weary, with a craggy matter-of-factness replacing his old swagger. The album was produced by T Bone Burnett, and it shares the rootsy, spooked tone of Burnett's 2007 production Raising Sand by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss. This album's most upbeat track, My Sweet Love, is rockabilly heard from afar, a love song with a queasy undertow: ''It sure would feel good to feel good again,'' Mellencamp sings.

In the new songs, he trades his familiar brawny rock for sparser settings, like the bluesy riff and echoes of If I Die Sudden and the Celtic-Appalachian modality of Young Without Lovers. Burnett disassembles Mellencamp's usual sound, placing his own down-home guitar within the band and, for nearly half the album, devising arrangements without drums.

Mellencamp can still come up with blunt, righteous choruses — like those in Jena, a song about racial confrontation in a Louisiana town — but on this CD, he underplays them, as if he's all too aware of every limitation.

— Jon Pareles

by: newsdesk




Electro pop pioneers Soft Cell release a new 2CD remix album entitled Heat : The Remixes and a 2CD Deluxe Edition of their first album Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret through Universal/Some Bizzare on September 1st.

Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret originally released in 1981, includes the bands worldwide hit Tainted Love, (a number-one hit in seventeen countries, including the UK and top 10 in the US) . The album also includes three more Top 5 singles - Bedsitter, Say Hello, Wave Goodbye and Torch.

Non-stop Ecstatic Dancing is also included in the Deluxe edition. Released in 1982 it contains exclusive tracks and mixes from Non-stop Erotic Cabaret, including the Top 5 Hit single, What?, and remixes of both sides of the band's first single, Memorabilia and A Man Could Get Lost. Considered to be the first ever remix album, Non-stop Ecstatic Dancing is also widely recognized as being one of the first house records in the UK.

Both members of Soft Cell - Marc Almond and Dave Ball – have contributed brand new remixes to the album, picking out some of their personal favourites. The album is the brainchild of leading remix and production team Manhattan Clique (acclaimed for their work with Moby, Goldfrapp, The Human League, Erasure & The B-52’s), who also contribute three remixes to the album.

An expanded 40 track digital edition of the album, featuring additional bonus tracks and remixes not on the CD will also be available.

The full CD tracklisting for Non-stop Erotic Cabaret Deluxe Edition and Heat: The Remixes is:

Non-stop Erotic Cabaret Deluxe Edition
DISC ONE
Original Non-stop Erotic Cabaret
1. Frustration
2. Tainted Love
3. Seedy Films
4. Youth
5. Sex Dwarf
6. Entertain Me
7. Chips on My Shoulder
8. Bedsitter
9. Secret Life
10. Say Hello Wave Goodbye
Bonus material
11. Persuasion (from Memoribilia 12')
12. A Man Can Get Lost (from Memoribilia 12')
13. Potential (from Mutant moments EP)
14. Love Feelings (from mutant Moments EP)
15. Metro MR X (from Mutant Moments EP)
16. Memoribilia (Extended)
17. What! (Extended)

DISC TWO
Original Non-stop Ecstatic Dancing
1. Memorabilia
2. Where Did Our Love Go?
3. What!
4. A Man Could Get Lost
5. Chips On My Shoulder
6. Sex Dwarf
Bonus material
7. Tainted Love / Where Did Our Love Go?
8. So
9. Torch
10. Insecure Me
11. Bedsitter
12. Facility Girls

Heat: The Remixes
DISC ONE
1. Memorabilia – Cicada remix
2. Bedsitter – Manhattan Clique remix
3. Tainted Love – Dakeyne remix
4. Youth – The Memory Band remix
5. Torch – Manhattan Clique remix ( edit )
6. Where The Heart Is – Marcas Lancaster remix
7. Seedy Films – Richard X remix
8. Say Hello, Wave Goodbye - Marcas Lancaster remix
9. What – Plastiq remix
10. Numbers – Spectrum remix
11. Insecure Me - Trevor Jackson Playgroup remix ( edit )
12. Soul Inside – Readers Wifes remix
13. A Man Can Get Lost – Marcello remix

DISC TWO
1. Heat – Yer Man remix
2. Meet Murder My Angel – Marc Almond & Kinky Roland remix
3. Sex Dwarf – The Grid remix
4. Baby Doll – Nitewreckers remix
5. Secret Life – George Demure remix
6. Chips On My Shoulder – Mark Moore & Kinky Roland remix
7. Barriers – Dark Poet remix
8. Surrender To A Stranger – MHC remix ( edit )
9. Little Rough Rhinestone – Solvent remix
10. Frustration – Punx Soundcheck remix
11. The Art of Falling Apart – Atomizer remix
12. Her Imagination – Monkey Farm Frankenstein remix
13. Martin – Nitewreckers remix