Kazhes pierakstu burtnīca

I don`t really remember the reason, but this once was my favorite Disney cartoon. Now, watching it as a wiser and bolder person (haa haa!) I found out that I sadly don`t like it this much anymore. To tell the story I need to be a sillier person than I am. But what can I tell? First, that to my astonishment this cartoon doesn`t follow the book by Carroll at all - it has similarities with it but not much more than that. Then, that there still are a few interesting characters - for example, the Chesire cat is cool although he doesn`t say what he`s supposed to. And then comes the comparison to "Neco z Alenky" - a film by Svankmajer, also based on the same story. And what surprises me is that despite being a dark and dreary tale the Svankmajer version had some better characters - the Mad Hatter and the March Rabbit for instance there much cooler in that version. Still, "Alice in Wonderland" is a cartoon for little children, just like everything coming from Disney studios, therefore I can`t be too harsh upon it. Animation is certainly much better than in newer cartoons, and without doubt it`s also more inventive.

For quite a long while Queen was my most favourite band and I couldn`t even imagine that one day I could say that this band recorded a lot of crappy songs. Sure, Queen were quite good at selecting singles from their albums (apart from maybe "Body language" and "The invisible man") but, man, do their albums contain a lot of filler which sometimes is boring and sometimes is even worse than that. This album surely is considered their peak by most rock critics and it probable was it as well. But even on here some problems can be found. Out of the 12 tracks only "Death on two legs", "You`re my best friend" and "Bohemian rhapsody" are totally amazing. Of course, this album doesn`t have any stinkers as well, for otherwise it would be hardly a great album, don`t you think. But the "Prophet`s song" is terribly long and not particulary interesting. If you could skip tracks on an MC I`d probably skip this one even way back in 1990s when I still was a huge fan of this band.

Sāku kārtējo "projektu". Šoreiz tas būs - iespēju robežās noformulēt savu attieksmi pret fabulozo četrinieku no Liverpūles, hronoloģiski izejot cauri viņu attīstībai no Hamburgas pagrabu grupas (gandrīz) līdz "Let it Be". Tā kā materiāls man jau ir vairāk nekā labi zināms, tad prognozēju, ka ierakstu skaits faktoīdā šeit augs straujāk, nekā, piemēram, Boba Dilana gadījumā, kad man albūmos iepriekš zināmas bija tikai nedaudzas pazīstamākās dziesmas.

Starp citu, vēl viens iemesls, kādēļ šo ierakstu novērtēšana neievelkas - pirmie Bītlu albūmi ir bezdievīgi īsi un reti tajos atrodams ievērojami vairāk par 30 minūtēm mūzikas. Personīgi man "With The Beatles" nebūt nešķiet labāks albūms par grupas debijas plati, lai gan, iespējams, bītli uz šo brīdi ir vairāk piešāvušies darbam studijā, kļuvuši mazliet daudzveidīgāki un nobriedušāki. Tomēr salīdzinoši ar debijas albūma vismaz 3 īsteni klasiskajām bītlu kompozīcijām šajā platē tāda ir tikai viena - "All my loving", kas varbūt arī ir laba dziesma, bet man to klausīties ir totāli piegriezies. Laba ir ievadošā "It won`t be long", nav ne vainas noslēdzošajai "Money" ("Give me money - that`s what I want"), tomēr baigi var just formulu un vēlreiz formulu. "With the Beatles" ir izteikts "Please Please Me Vol.2" un tur neko nevar padarīt - sākot ar vienādo dziesmu skaitu, vienādo oriģionālkompozīciju un kaveru skaitu (8/6), turpinot ar formulu - iesākam ar jestru oriģināldziesmu ("I Saw her Standing there" -> "It won`t be long") un nobeidzot ar rēcošu kaveru ("Twist and Shout" -> "Money"). Vēl šeit atrodamas tādas kaveru kompozīcijas kā "Roll over Beethoven" un "I wanna be your man", pret kurām nejūtu nekādus iebildumus, bet apzinos, ka visādi Čaki Beriji tomēr ir 50-to gadu materiāls un ka bītli bija spējīgi nodemonstrēt ievērojami vairāk par to. Un vēl te ir tāda dziesma kā "Till there was you", ko lieliski varētu izpildīt kāds Frankie Avalon vai kāds cits zilacains pirmspusaudžu meiteņu elks, salkanais "Please Mister Postman" utt., ko vietā es labprātāk klausos bezdievīgi novecojušo "Little Child", kas vismaz ir kaut cik dzīva dziesma. Vilšanās.

I know you`re probably gonna crucify me but I didn`t find the performance captured on this DVD particulary amazing. Ok, one simply has to appreciate the singing abilities of Mr. McFerrin and one also has to agree that the whole thing is pretty impressive for a complete improvisation. But one could probably notice that the whole thing isn`t that interesting musically and that it`s certainly not an entirely musical experience you get from Bobby McFerrin. Ok, Frank Zappa answered the question wheter humour belongs in music but as a matter of fact McFerrin seems to me to be more of a clown and less of a musician on this record. Yeah, sure at some times it`s funny but would you really like to listen more than once to a guy clapping upon a spectators jacket with his hands and singing: "I`m in leather"? I certainly would not. While it would probably be much more fun to watch McFerrin with my own eyes, in my opinion his magic didn`t transfer well onto this record. The biggest problem for me is that there are no real songs on here - mainly you could call that jamming if Bobby used any instruments. Therefore the only really interesting part of the concert was "Walkin`" where another dude appeared on the stage and Bobby didn`t just do his vocally miracles. In that case the bonus tracks - music videos for "Good Lovin`" and... "Don`t worry be happy" did a much better job of entertaining me. For I prefer songs to mindless vocalisations.

Veiksmīgi esmu iesoļojis Bītlmānijas otrajā gadā, kas grupas muzikālajiem panākumiem pievienoja veiksmi arī kino lauciņā, kad šī paša albūma nosaukuma filma arī kļuva par grāvēju. Nenoliedzami progress starp "With the Beatles" un "A Hard Day`s Night" ir ievērojams. Kamēr bītlu otrajā albūmā bija tikai dažas interesantas dziesmas, šajā tikai dažas ir neinteresantas, turklāt visas 13 albūma kompozīcijas ir sacerējuši paši grupas dalībnieki. Līdz ar šo ierakstu bītli arvien vairāk atkāpjas no tipisku rokenroleru imidža, tikai ar "It`s Been A Hard Day`s Night" saglabājot savu savu pirmatnējo skanējumu, tomēr šī dziesma ir jau ievērojami "nopulētāka" par agrākajiem ierakstiem. Ā, protams, te vēl ir "Can`t Buy Me Love", kas arī ir normāls rokenrols, turklāt viena no manām iecienītākajām bītlu agrīnajām dziesmām. Muzikālā daļa šai kompozīcijai gan pamatā sastāv no Ringo traki dauzām šķīvjus, tā ka te pat ieskanās zināmas pankroka iezīmes un vēl dziesmai pa vidu ir kolosāls kliedziens. Vēl te netrūkst skaistu akustisku kompozīciju, tādu kā "I`ll be back", "If I fell", "And I love Her". Starp citu pirmā un pēdējā ir maksimāli līdzīgas it īpaši ievada ziņā, izņemot to, ka "I`ll be back" ir mazliet dzīvīgāka, bet "And I love Her" - skaistāka. Ja nemaldos, tas ir Makka, kas dzied "And I love Her" un par spīti maksimāli triviālajam dziesmas saturam, formai utt., man šī kompozīcija nemaz tik triviāla nešķiet. No citām dziesmām vēl viena klasiska kompozīcija ir "I Should Have Known Better", kurā parādās Boba Dilana trademark instruments - mutes ermoņikas, kas gan nepadara šo dziesmu par manu personal favorite, lai gan nenoliedzami tā ir ļoti lipīga un atmiņā paliekoša dziesma. Vispār šajā ierakstā gandrīz visas dziesmas ir tādas, kuras atcerēties nav grūti, varbūt izņemot "When I Get Home", kaut gan nē - visas dziesmas ir lieliskas, vienīgi tā, protams, nav vēl nekāda augstā māksla, tāds friendly pop music, būs nepieciešams vismaz vēl pusotrs gads, līdz bītli spēs pacelties augstāk visādos veidos - pagaidām nekādu eksperimentu, nekādu oriģinālu tekstu, vienkārši 60s music at it`s best.

Vairums ekspertu uzskata, ka "Beatles for Sale" bija ievērojams kritums salīdzinoši ar grupas iepriekšējo albūmu. Kāpēc viņi varētu tā domāt? Galvenokārt jau tādēļ, ka bītli šajā ierakstā atkal iekļāvuši veselas 6 kaveru kompozīcijas. No šīm 6 tikai viena ir izpelnījusies globālu slavu - Čaka Berija "Rock`n`roll music", kas bītlu izpildījumā ievērojami uzlabo paša Berija oriģinālu. No pašu bītlu dziesmām pazīstamākās albūma kompozīcijas ir "8 days a week" un "I`ll follow the sun", vieglas, nepretenciozas un ļoti skaistas. Man neskaidru iemeslu dēļ šausmīgi kruta dziesma skaitās "I`m a loser", kas esot pirmais ievērojamais Džona Lenona veikums dziesmas teksta ziņā, kad teksts nav vienkāršas muļķības, kā tas ir vairumā pop songu, bez maz vai sasniedzot Boba Dilana līmeni. Dziesma varbūt pati par sevi ir ok, bet to ģenialitāti es kaut kā tajā nesaskatu. Tad jau tikpat labi var teikt, ka "Baby`s in black" būtu kāds nopietns vēstījums. Agrīnajos bītlos vēstījuma ir vēl mazāk nekā manos stāstos! Un kāds vēstījums var būt albūmā, kurā iekļauts "Mr. Moonlight" kavers? Lai nu kas, bet šī dziesma ir pilnīgs un totāls sviests, kas lieliski iederas kaut kādu Every Brothers repertuārā un nevis bītlu albūmā. Vispār kā jau bītlu albūms arī "For Sale" nav slikts ieraksts, jo gluži šausmīgu drazu viņi neierakstīja gandrīz nekad, bet salīdzinoši ar gandrīz visiem citiem ierakstiem šis ir ļoti pat forgettable.

You should know a song from this film, the one that goes "I was born... born to be wild", and "Steppenwolf" is that head bangin` band that played it. Maybe it`s the best part of the film, when you wave your hair listening to its rhyth and looking at two cool guys riding on their bikes through the US of A. Not that there`s much more in the film than those two guys on their bikes. One of them is the good looking one, and Peter Fonda is the guy who plays him. Wyatt (that`s the guy`s name) drives a cool bike in the national colours in a matching suit, while Billy is just a strange cowboy like character. On their trip after getting a load of money from a drug deal they encounter several people, among whom is a young Jack Nicholson who plays an alcoholic lawyer. What`s the problem for the heroes - that nobody accepts them - long haired motorbiking people, they are looked upon as weed junkies (which they are) and gay sissies (which they most definetely aren`t). The final is quite sad - Nicholson is killed in sleep by some morons, while the others are later shot by some stupid farmer, because like Jack said - people who like talking about freedom don`t like looking at people that are free. If you like movies with beautiful landscapes and good rock music, this one is a good choice, otherwise - try something a bit less sleepy.

I guess I can`t call myself particulary interested in musicals. And I have my reasons for that: first, the music is usually quite cheeky and the singing - awful. Second, the storyline of the average musical is not more complicated than that of a Swedish porn movie. And last but not least I think that adoring musicals shows the person`s bad taste. Then why did I watch this one? Because I was told that it was good. I did have my doubts though - Nicole Kidman as the leading actress is a good thing for sure, but what else could a film about a French sluthouse offer? Ok, I know that the red Mill wasn`t exactly a sluthouse, but basically it still was. Now come to think about the film. The story is stilly quite simple - a young writer from Switzerland comes to Paris and falls in love with the best courtisane of Moulin Rouge. And she falls in love with him. But a rich duke who invests loads of money into Moulin Rouge also craves her, and it brings up the problems. The plot as such can`t score big points for the film. But as for the music - it rocks! Could you imagine a cabaret in early 1900s the people sing "Here we are now - entertain us" or a dude who apparantly has written "The One" by Elton John. Or a performance of "Roxanne" (The Police)? It`s totally cool, although I still prefer the original versions, but this surely is one weird musical.

This is probably the only band to come out of Moldova that`s at least a bit known outside its native country. The style of music can be at best described as some weird ethno-pop with elements of rap, rock`n`roll and a lot of other stuff. The closest thing to that can be probably Emir Kusturica and the No Smoking Orchestra. Why? Because the music is bound to make you shake like a jelly fish (a quote from "Crazy little thing called love" by Queen) and because the band doesn`t have no real musical virtuousos and the singer is kinda lame. But that`s surely a part of the show. Probably I wouldn`t care about the band, hadn`t it participated in the crappy thing called Eurovision. From this album a few tracks seem more memorable than the rest - "Hora cosmica" and "Videli noch" which is the only song sung in Russian.