Reviews
Rick Rubin Picks the Brain of a Beatle in Hypnotic McCartney 3,2,1 Docuseries: Review
The Pitch: Ask any self-respecting millennial music dork which two people he’d like to have dinner with, living or dead, and chances are Rick Rubin and Paul McCartney are somewhere at the top of that list. Luckily, with Hulu’s new six-part docuseries McCartney 3,2,1, we get the closest possible thing, with Rubin and McCartney spending a long afternoon in a recording studio, the former grilling the latter about his history with the Beatles, his collaborations with John Lennon and George Martin, and taking apart some of his most famous tracks to see what they’re made of. The Notes That Like Each Other: One of the unexpected joys of Zachary Heinzerling’s docuseries is just how relaxed it is. There’s no pressure to use McCartney and Rubin’s time together as a comprehensive ...
Schmigadoon! Is Charming Catnip for Musical Theater Kids: Review
The Pitch: Josh (Keegan-Michael Key) and Melissa (Cecily Strong) have hit a roadblock in their relationship: he’s too aloof, she’s too controlling, and the pair are steamrolling towards an abrupt end. But on a last-ditch backpacking trip to rediscover their bliss, they stumble upon something stranger: A mysterious, brightly-lit town called Schmigadoon, where everything looks like a colorblind-cast version of a ’40s villa and the townspeople burst into song at the drop of a straw hat. Soon, they discover that they’re trapped in the cloyingly musical town until they can find “true love” — love that it seems they don’t have anymore (if they ever did). Will the two patch up and get out? Or will they have to find a way to adjust to this new, toe-tapping normal? Corn Puddin’, Corn Puddin’, ...
Gen Z’s Biggest Star, Rema With ‘Another Banger’
Gen Z’s biggest star, Rema, continues to soar with the success of his latest single “Soundgasm“. Aside from the good music, Rema has one of the most solid record labels and management teams behind him. These factors combined make him Gen Z’s biggest star and his personality and brand have been made to fit and continue to appeal to that generation. He kicked off this year with the release of “Bounce” as it was a very catchy song produced by Don Jazzy, the best of all time this country has produced. It easily found its way to the hearts of music lovers but I was not totally convinced about the quality of the song. The Naija Lamba sound is not known to have deep and sensible lyrics, we are listening for the vibes. Once it makes us dance it gets a pass mark from the majority of music listeners...
Raheem DeVaughn Isn’t Shy About His Desires on LoveSick
There’s a quote from Muhammad Ali that I never fully understood as a kid. “The man who views the world at 50 the same as he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life,” the boxing legend said. Ali’s statement speaks to growth, and on Raheem DeVaughn and Apollo Brown’s latest project, LoveSick, we see his maturation as an artist. DeVaughn’s ability to adapt to each instrumental makes it evident that he’s in charge of the tracks and their direction. Brown who is credited with production on every record, creates sultry and at times jazzy compositions for DeVaughn to flourish over. The drum patterns aren’t too complicated, and the melodies complement DeVaughn’s voice. Brown shows off his musicality while allowing DeVaughn’s vocals to take everything to the next level. There are a few moments wh...
Every Fast and Furious Movie Ranked by Least Family to Most Family
“I don’t have friends. I got family.” For the vast majority of the Fast and the Furious franchise’s twenty-year lifespan, one overriding ethos has dominated the series even more than its love of tricked-out imported street cars: The physics-defying, bone-deep earnest love of family. (Or, as series star Vin Diesel so frequently rumbles, fambly.) In the Fast movies, having a family and a code by which to honor them is the most powerful force on Earth. It can defy the laws of governments as much as it can the laws of physics; it can even restore memory and bring back the dead. It can turn your most sworn enemy into your dearest comrade. And most of all, it can make Corona Lites palatable. With the latest entry in the series, F9, now in theaters, it’s high time to look back at the franchise’s ...
On Disco!, MIKE Shares a Glimmer of Hope
Disco!, the latest release from the experimental New York rapper MIKE, builds upon his somber but virtuosic style, exploring new lyrical and musical terrain through the honest lens of his writing and his burgeoning talents as a beatmaker. His previous releases, weight of the world in 2019 and tears of joy in 2020, were in direct response to the loss of his mother, captured in heart-wrenching voicemails and pointed descriptions of life’s inconvenient truths. Though this grief still features prominently on Disco!, the progression of both his sorrow and his musical technique can be traced across the album’s diverse tracks. At the age of 22, MIKE has emerged as a leading figure in underground hip-hop, drawing on the dense lyricism and measured delivery of artists like MF DOOM and Earl Sw...
Foo Fighters Reopen Madison Square Garden With Musical Medicine for the Masses
Lyrics to the Foo Fighters’ opening aural salvo summed up a historic night and extraordinary experience: “It’s times like these you learn to live again.” The setting was Madison Square Garden, the occasion? NYC’s first full capacity arena concert since COVID-19 lockdowns began in March 2020. There was audience speculation about New York-centric guests along the lines of a Billy Joel, and murmurs of why an artist with area ties like KISS or Bruce Springsteen didn’t reopen the World’s Most Famous Arena. That said, it was immediately clear that the Foo Fighters were the perfect choice for New Yorkers to celebrate the city’s reopening with a much-welcomed infusion of communal energy, camaraderie and joy. The group’s consummately crafted arena rock stylings are classic – and now 26 years since ...
Euro 2020 Matchday 2 Review: Italy, Belgium and The Netherlands progress, Scotland hold England, Germany blow Portugal away & much more
The second matchday of Euro 2020 once again featured 24 nations participating in 12 fixtures across the six groups, and there is lots to unpack from the week’s action. So, let’s get straight into it in this review: Group A Turkey and Wales faced off in Baku for the Group A opener, and it certainly was a tense affair as the two sides were fighting to have a realistic chance of reaching the knockouts. Turkey looked rather hopeless against Italy, and they weren’t particularly good in the first half here either as their defence was pulled apart effortlessly and there was space available almost everywhere in their half. Gareth Bale often dropped deep for Wales, and from such positions, he attempted a fair few chipped passes in behind the Turkish backline. Aaron Ramsey was most often the recipie...
“UY Scuti” Interpolates With A Special Dedication To Women, Which Completes The Shape Of Olamide’s Music
UY Scuti is the pop album that forms the whole interpolation of Olamide’s music, his thoughts formed together which draws from his locally made street gingering songs through rap infused pop, street hip-hop, and now he extends reach into making few love pop ballads that sturdily connotes a mild emotional balance together with genuine loving experience which makes this great deal of songs from the album. On this project, He waxes strong from every record in a way to relax his core street demography, never minding his capability to knit such beautiful local-based love songs which show his growth and natural balance to make pop music as well as experimenting with mild reggae dub, in between afro-beats. He has grown to fully express a great emotion from this album which doesn’t deny the fact t...
Steven Soderbergh’s No Sudden Move Is Another Dynamite Heist: Tribeca Review
The Pitch: Steven Soderbergh has been busier than ever since returning to filmmaking in 2017; No Sudden Move is his six feature in less than four years, premiering at the Tribeca Festival before making its way to HBO Max in July. No Sudden Move follows Curt Goynes (Don Cheadle) and Ronald Russo (Benicio del Toro) who are hired to “babysit” the family of Matt Wertz (David Harbour) at gunpoint while fellow criminal Charley (Kieran Culkin) takes Matt to retrieve a valuable, unspecified document from Matt’s boss’s office. Sounds simple enough, but the complications spiderweb out like cracked glass: Matt’s wife Mary (Amy Semietz) isn’t certain whether to trust her husband; Ronald and Curt aren’t sure whether to trust their shady boss Jones (Brendan Fraser); add in Ronald’s girlfriend Vanessa (J...
Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road
Premiering this week at the Tribeca Film Festival, along comes another film about Brian Wilson. Is there more to be said about this cornerstone of modern American music? Indeed, Long Promised Road provides several more angles to further understand the journey Brian Wilson has taken. The film provides a wealth of encomia from well-respected musicians: “The Beatles had George Martin,” observes Elton John. “But Brian did it himself.” “One of the greatest artists of all time,” asserts Don Was. “No greater world in rock and roll was created than that of the Beach Boys,” says Jersey Shore native Bruce Springsteen. “On the level of Schubert or Handel,” says Gustavo Dudamel of Pet Sounds. By age 22, Wilson had produced seven Top 10 hits, making The Beach Boys the most successful group in the...
Soundgasm Samples Rema’s Limitless Creativity, Mind You, This is His Term For Sound & Org*sm
Soundgasm is short for ‘sound-org*sm’ which Rema uses to uplift the bars of his creative process. He lately laced out strongly built Amapiano records titled, “Woman”, and “Bounce” which was tied to a great height of hedonism as well as they inculcate one with immeasurable s3x fun in between. RELATED: Rema Is Creatively Damned: “Bounce”, The Review Woman and Bounce offer you Rema’s creative twist, gives one a treat of Rema’s wholesome artistic experience down to the constructive lyrical twist that stands him out, respectively. Soundgasm powers a super fine-tuned sonic production by London who curated the song through short-range progress of piano cuts from the start with solid pop kicks that intertwined in between the Afro-structurally built a sound, Rema describing sex and org*sm through h...
