Archive for ‘January, 2007’

AL GREEN: The Definitive Greatest Hits

Before JT brought it back, Al Green helped invent what “sexy” should sound like. Much like his peer Marvin Gaye, Green epitomized the male 1960s and ’70s soul vocalist; masculine and confident yet vulnerable, playing the role of both heart breaker and heart- broken.

Back to the future

In adapting P.D. James dystopian novel The Children of Men for the screen, director Alfonso Cuarón removes some sci-fi elements and tempers the social themes, almost producing an all-out action thriller. This sounds like sacrilege but is not, because the final product is a brilliant work of cinema and storytelling far better than the banal future shock he may have otherwise delivered.

In retrospect: 2007 Golden Globes

On January 15th, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association picked a handful of lucky contenders to take a nice, shiny globe back to their multi-million-dollar homes. The Golden Globes, along with the Screen Actors Guild Awards, is considered the ultimate predictor for the prestigious Oscars.

Local-palloza: A Boston scene sampling

Local night at the Middle East draws people in, offering the chance to not only hear a diamon-in-the-rough band, but meet them after its set. This was the case Friday night at the Middle East Downstairs. It was the CD release party for New York-based Jaggery, a talented musician’s band with a female singer/keyboardist who haunted (and occasionally shrieked at) the crowd like Fiona Apple’s darker, angrier cousin.

Local-palloza: A Boston scene sampling

We are Piebald and this is where we came from, yelled vocalist, guitarist and pianist Travis Shettel as the band made its way onto the plywood stage covered with a Persian rug. The boys of Piebald have come home to Massachusetts, (via their vegetable-oil-fueled van) for its Accidental Gentleman record release party upstairs at the Middle East, a space usually reserved for lesser-known bands.