The Star Online: Entertainment: Music
The Star Online: Entertainment: Music |
| Posted: 04 Sep 2011 02:45 AM PDT He forever changed the course of blues music in his brief career and Sony Music's latest addition could be the best yet on the Robert Johnson cause. ROBERT Johnson's career has always been a mixture of mind-bending intrigue. Blues ran his game and the skinny, handsome man's astounding guitar-playing, the hoodoo in his words and the haunting voices he used to tell his stories of birth, death and everything in between did cast a spell on several generations of blues men. How did the magic start? Terraplane Blues began to circulate around the Mississippi delta, in particular, the blues hotbed in the 1930s, spreading the name of Johnson through jook joints, lumber camps and cotton fields. His detractors and contemporaries certainly took note. Son House and Willie Brown – mentors of Johnson – who were plying their trade in the same circuits, are famously known to have provided testimonies of Johnson's improvement as a player and eventual meteoric rise. Truth be told, for very many people, fans and novices alike, the myth has always loomed larger than the man ... or the music. To serious fans though, the most infamous facet of the Johnson story is the one of him selling his soul to the devil at a crossroads at midnight, to be bestowed with unparalleled guitar-playing prowess. It is nothing but a crutch to a wonderful story of raw talent meeting dogged determination. He cut his teeth playing the blues songs of the day, learning the art of Ernest "Whiskey Red" Brown, Charlie Patton and Myles Robson – effectively putting behind his initial ambition of playing the jew's harp – as he took his craft to the woods for private rehearsals. Johnson's motto was never to stay in one place, and his constant travelling afforded him, not quite worldly views, but intimate knowledge of territorial rights and customs, subjects ably tackled across the 29 songs he recorded in his brief career. This latest addition to the Robert Johnson cause, The Centennial Collection of his complete works, is the best word on the subject to date, outdoing the first CD remasters Sony issued under its Roots 'N' Blues series in 1990. For a start, the songs are split on the CDs: the two recording sessions he had in Texas between 1936 and 1937, with alternate takes concluding each CD and mandatory anecdotes for the anorak. His most famous performances – Kind Hearted Woman Blues, I Believe I'll Dust My Broom, Sweet Home Chicago, When You Got A Good Friend, Come On In My Kitchen and Terraplane Blues – stack up the San Antonio sessions. That's not to suggest the Dallas dates are lame fare, though, given the eerie Stones In My Passway kicking off the second disc. Well before the Ewings bore the first hole in the desolate landscape, Johnson sat in a hotel room and laid down the blueprint for country blues the way it was never imagined and the way it probably never will be again. I'm A Steady Rollin' Man, Stop Breaking Down Blues, Hell Hound On My Trail, Malted Milk and Travelling Riverside Blues sit in CD two. He led a life that was a prime case of wine (he loved his whisky, though), women and song, which Johnson saw every reason to write about in his songs. But he also dwelled on the supernatural and the human condition. Ultimately, what he lived for was what he died for, too. A jealous husband poisoned his whisky, ending his 27-year-old life, but not without leaving behind material Eric Clapton has sworn by as a musician. The booklet in the CD is superbly researched (a great Sony Music/Legacy Recordings trait), presenting a lucid story to the aura that surrounds Johnson, though lyrics are absent, which the 1990 remaster had. That said, the biography part of the literature is an update from the Roots 'N' Blues remaster. While there's little audible difference between the production of this compilation and its predecessor, it certainly sounds like it has more life, or may be that's just the music ... And like an epitaph, Ben Harper's observation of Johnson's contribution to music is enshrined in the tracklist at the back of this album: "The past, present and the future of the blues is rich, wide, vast and deep; infinite in its ability to awe, inspire and influence. Robert Johnson will forever be at the very centre of it all." |
| Posted: 04 Sep 2011 02:42 AM PDT New O Brother set serves up more old-time music. GEORGE Clooney is not the only one whose singing did not make the final cut of O Brother, Where Art Thou? and the film's best-selling soundtrack, which helped turn old-time music into hit pop tunes again. Clooney's stab at singing the film's signature song still remains in the vaults, but an expanded version of the soundtrack, out now, packs 14 extra tracks, including 12 previously unreleased cuts from music producer T Bone Burnett's O Brother sessions. The two-CD set, which also includes the 19 tunes from the original soundtrack, helps celebrate the 10th anniversary of the O Brother triumph at the 2001 Grammys, where it was picked as album of the year. The film's US$45mil (RM134mil) haul at the domestic box-office was at the time the biggest success yet for filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen, but it was a pittance compared to Hollywood blockbusters. The album, though, was a runaway hit, selling nine million copies, ranking as one of the 10 top-selling soundtracks ever and inspiring renewed interest in long-neglected music that continues today. As the studio engineer tells Clooney's gang in the film, "people can't seem to get enough" of that old-time stuff. "That type of music had been around my whole life. There was a time in the late 1950s and early 1960s where it was actually popular music, and I knew there hadn't been a light shone on it for some number of years," said Burnett. "We knew we were getting ready to shine a very bright light on it with a George Clooney movie and a George Clooney video, for that matter. I thought there was a very good chance that it would penetrate the zeitgeist, these singers and musicians; for a lot of people to hear them and think this was good music. The thing I didn't foresee was all the banjo sales increasing by 7,000%." The expanded soundtrack features more songs by performers who were on the original album, among them Norman Blake, the Fairfield Four and the Peasall Sisters, and others who did not make it on the initial release, including Van Dyke Parks, Colin Linden and Alan O'Bryant. The double album features two previously unreleased tracks by the late John Hartford, a banjo player and music folklorist who wrote Gentle On My Mind. Burnett recalls that Hartford recorded 30 or 40 songs in a single day as they were working on the O Brother soundtrack. Inspired by Homer's The Odyssey, the film follows three Depression-era escaped convicts (Clooney, John Turturro and Tim Blake Nelson) as they encounter seductive sirens, run afoul of a modern Cyclops (John Goodman) and inadvertently record a hit song with the traditional tune I Am A Man Of Constant Sorrow. The film makes its debut on Blu-ray disc Sept 13, with extras that include the Man Of Constant Sorrow music video. Clooney, nephew of singer Rosemary Clooney, recorded a version that "sounded great ... he does have those genes, and he is Irish," said Burnett. "If George wanted to, he could be a singer." As it happened, Clooney had only a brief time to prepare for his studio session. Burnett said that for the film to work, the song had to sound timeless, the sort of tune that could sweep the airwaves and become the salvation for Clooney and his Soggy Bottom Boys. The filmmakers went with a version sung by country and bluegrass guitarist Dan Tyminski, one of the O Brother session musicians and a longtime member of Alison Krauss' band Union Station. Tyminski's Man Of Constant Sorrow, which also won a Grammy, has become a standard at Krauss' shows, and the song gave him such a career boost that he stepped out from sideman duties to record two solo albums. And the music revival that followed the soundtrack's release still is going strong, Tyminski said. Burnett said there is much more music that might eventually be released from the O Brother sessions. Potentially, that might include Clooney's take on Man Of Constant Sorrow, which Burnett did not go looking for as he put together the expanded soundtrack. "I don't know why we didn't think of that," said Burnett. If he can find it, and Clooney agrees, "at some point I'm going to put out the George Clooney version." – AP |
| Posted: 03 Sep 2011 08:22 PM PDT Singer Kyle Patrick lends his talent and star power to his latest cause against human-trafficking. Baby-faced singer Kyle Patrick is a livewire performer on stage but now he can also channel his buzzing energy – and lend star power – to the worldwide cause against human-trafficking. The charming 25-year-old from Massachusetts, the United States has become one of MTV Exit's (End Exploitation and Trafficking) celebrity ambassadors, and has tied his work there with the production of a solo album. Patrick, best known as the lead vocalist of the power pop outfit The Click Five, said the project was inspired by his trip to Cambodia last year. "We were there to perform at the historic Angkor Wat temple as part of a programme with MTV Exit," he tells us in a recent phone interview from New York. The trip led to the band's visit to the Somaly Mam shelter, where they met with survivors of human trafficking. "They told us stories about how they were sold, sometimes by their own parents to help out their families. They were treated like household appliances or a TV set. It was something that really shocked us, coming from America. It wasn't something we knew about," Patrick reveals. "I think it's horrible that it's happening to young people. Girls and boys are separated from their families and are forced into the sex-trade or child labour," he adds. "Most of these victims are young girls who were lured by a fake opportunity to get a job, to get married or promises of a new home, but it's all a trap. Their only crime is wanting a better life for themselves but they end up in a bad situation." Patrick, who also performed acoustically with his band at the shelter, says he was moved by the experience. "We played our song Don't Let Me Go. They didn't speak English but they were crying, then we started crying. There was a genuine connection." Formed in 2003, when most of the band member were students at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Click Five has made an impression in the Asian scene with its three albums, including the breakthrough Greetings From Imrie House (2005). Now, the singer wants to help these victims through his music. He hopes to produce his upcoming project through PledgeMusic, a social networking site that allows artistes and fans to work together to make new records and raise money for charity. The project includes a solo album and a 3D music video. A portion of the funds raised from his efforts will be donated to the shelters in Cambodia. "I hope I'll be able to provide food, clothing, daily supplies or just keep the shelters running for victims who have been trafficked or exploited," he says. "PledgeMusic is a whole new model of how you can produce an album. It lets me engage my friends and family to help contribute to the charity of my choice," he adds. Patrick, who started his project on PledgeMusic last June, has to raise enough funds to produce his album. "I need to reach 100% of my (monetary) target or I don't get any of the funds. It's a all-or-nothing kind of deal." He describes his upcoming album as a combination of all his previous records. "I've always been interested in pop music but I don't want to recreate anything I've done. It's more of an experimental project and I've been creating lots of different sounds. It's definitely something different and new." But all frills aside, the singer says the main focus of his record is his voice. "That's like my thumb-print," he says with a laugh. Patrick's 3D video marks another venture into unfamiliar territory. "The writing process is very visual and I actually get a clear vision of what a song would 'look' like by the time I finish it. I was lucky I met this up-and-coming filmmaker named Zach Leiberman, who is now working to put my visions into video," he explains. He tells fans to expect something wacky and cool. "It's also a little bit weird and definitely off the beaten path." His first single, Go For Gold is already up for preview on his PledgeMusic page. "That's one of the favourite songs I've been working on and it's probably going to be the first single of my album. It's upbeat, it's super-powerful and my goal is for it to be the theme song for the 2012 Olympics (in London)." Patrick adds he is looking to release his album later this year or early 2012. The Click Five is also set for an Asian tour in December. "We're going back to Cambodia to perform another big concert there. Our main goal is to spread the message against human trafficking across the region and hopefully, provide an escape for these victims." "Malaysia is definitely high on our tour list," he adds. MTV Exit is a campaign of freedom that aims to increase awareness and prevention of human trafficking through television programmes, online content, live events, and partnerships with anti-trafficking organisations. You can learn more about human trafficking at www.mtvexit.org; Additionally, MTV Exit will also be launching a new documentary, Enslaved: An MTV Exit Special, hosted by Jared Leto from Thirty Seconds to Mars on Sept 17. |
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