Wall-E—How A Robot And Music Make Us Human

It's the music in the new Pixar Disney film Wall-E that made such an impact on me. The film opens with an excerpt of "Put On Your Sunday Clothes" sung by Michael Crawford from the movie musical HELLO DOLLY and it becomes Wall-E's leitmotif as he spends the next two hours searching for love and friendship in a trash filled future Earth. It's this song and the clip from the film that reminds Wall-E about life before trash took over the planet and represents his longing to connect to someone else. Who would of thought that this movie musical could resonate so loudly to Wall-E and therefore to us. As a viewer you immediately connect to Wall-E's plight as he does some of the same dance moves using a hub cap in lieu of a straw hat. When he meets Eve, a probe sent to find life on Earth, he brings her back to his home and it's another musical number that makes his case for finding true love. This time it's "It Only Takes A Moment" again from Hello Dolly and again sung by Michael Crawford. All Wall-E wants to do is hold EVE's hand and that's amplified even further as it plays out with the couple in Hello Dolly. It's the music along with the amazing Pixar animation that makes you want to connect to this little trash compacter. Maybe this tells us a little something about the power of music and the power of nostalgia. When they are combined with a great story and terrific animation it makes for amazing movie making. You also get to hear "La Vie En Rose" by Louis Armstrong and a new track from Peter Gabriel closes the movie, but I think it's that opening number that will stick with me the most.

"... and we won't come back until we kiss a girl" and does Wall-E? I won't tell. Go see it for yourself.

ROBYN-THE POP CANDY EVERYONE SHOULD WANT

Looking for something a little better than HARD CANDY? Get a taste of ROBYN's new self-titled release. This album came out in 2005 in Europe, but took two years to get a release date scheduled domestically. It is well worth the wait.

Perez Hilton was raving about her months ago, but I wasn't so sure I could trust that snarky one's opinion. It took her performance on The Late Show With David Letterman two weeks ago to convince me. She performed "Cobrastyle" alongside a band of giant bears (the song is by The Teddybears from their Soft Machine release... get it?) and tore it apart.

Her album is a blast from beginning to end and features one terrific pop song after the other. My friends and I always try to predict the song of the summer at the beginning of the season. What's the one song that will define Summer 2008? It will probably be a re-mix of something from Madge or perhaps Mimi, but it should be something from this album. This is that rare piece of work that has the potential to generate one hit after the other. Perhaps it's too Euro to connect widely here, but once you hear "Cobrastyle," "Be Mine", "With Every Heartbeat" "Konichiwa Bitches" or "Crash And Burn Girl" you might change your mind. You only have to close your eyes and picture the crowd going bananas on the dance floor to any of these tracks.

Robyn has a very distinct look with her angular new wave haircut. Her imaging and videos are highly stylized. She's from Sweden—hello land of ABBA (and IKEA).

If you are looking for a smarter, edgier alternative to the Material Girl's latest, pick up ROBYN. Don't get me wrong I like the new Madonna album, but ROBYN offers up much more interesting treats. Madge better watch her back.

I've posted several of her videos below along with her very cool performance on Letterman.

GYPSY AND PATTI LUPONE—A True Diva Moment

There I was in the back row of the St. Jame Theater last Saturday night witnessing Patti LuPone sink her teeth into the role of Mama Rose in GYPSY and tear the place apart. It was an amazing evening as she practically took the roof off of the place. I felt like I was witnessing some kind of historic event. That sounds like an awfully bold statement I know, but she is on fire and you can tell she's having a blast with this character.

I do not claim to be a Broadway expert, but I do know that this role was created for Ethel Merman in 1959 and few actresses have been able to compete. It's a really strenuous role with one gigantic powerful song after the other. A difficult feat to take one for any actress, but Ms LuPone delivers the goods. I was lucky enough to see this at City Stages last fall, but seeing it on Broadway was a whole new experience. I wasn't that familiar with the story or the show. I had always caught various scenes and I knew some of the songs, but I had no idea how many great songs are in the show that I did know. And the story of an over the top stage mother that would do anything to make her daughter a star is really great.

The play opens with children on stage auditioning for Uncle Jocko's Talent Show in Seattle then from the audience Mama Rose screams out , "Sing out Lousie" as she's walking down the aisle. The audience goes nuts and Patti LuPone works it as she pauses before delivering the next line. It is a true diva moment.

Some of the best songs for me included "Some People", "Everything's Coming Up Roses", and "You'll Never Get Away From Me". Charles Isherwood in The New York Times a few weeks ago pointed out the differences between this revival and the recently opened SOUTH PACIFIC. SOUTH PACIFIC opened the decade of the Fifties and reflects the sweetness and innocence of a country healing after WWII. It features many great songs including "A Wonderful Guy" in which the lead character sings, "I'm as normal as blueberry pie". GYPSY closed the 50s when it premiered on Broadway in 1959. It's definitely a darker tale and acts as reflection of the turbulent decade to come. In comparison, Mama Rose in "Some People" sings "Goodbye to blueberry pie". It sums up how different both shows are and how they defined that decade. Stephen Sondhiem, the show's lyricist, ushered in a whole new era of Broadway musicals with GYPSY.

Patti LuPone closes the show with "Rose's Turn" and it is truly a show stopper. When she finished last Saturday night the crowd erupted and jumped to their feet. It was quite a moment. GYPSY with Patti LuPone is not just a must see this season, it is truly an event.

THE B52s—BIG FUN AT THE FUNPLEX

"I'm at the mall on a diet pill!" shouts Fred Schneider on the single and title track "Funplex" and with that ladies and gentlemen please welcome back The B52s. It's been sixteen years since their last studio album and they don't disappoint on this triumphant return.

Funplex takes me back to 1989 when The B52s ruled the airwaves and video channels with "Love Shack" and "Roam". It's eleven songs about love, non-stop parties, pink helicopters and most of all FUN. Put it on and you can't help but smile. Some of the real standout songs for me include "Ultra Violet," "Deviant Ingredient" and "Juliette Of The Spirits." Each member is now in their 50s and it's a different world for them since they premiered "Rock Lobster" to an awe-struck crowd at CBGBs here in New York. Apparently people in the audience thought the gals were drag queens with their hairstyles and outfits. I remember dancing at my high school dances to that song and everyone lying on the floor and kicking up their legs at the height of it. The world is a way different place since those days for me and everyone. "Things are down and dirty in Washington", they sing on "Keep This Party Going" and that's an understatement, but The B52s help make all your troubles go away.

The music on FUNPLEX sounds fresh and new and the harmonies of Kate Pierson and Cindy Wilson reminds me of old friends coming home. Welcome back indeed!

August: Osage County—madness from the plains

THE MOST EXCITING NEW AMERICAN PLAY BROADWAY HAS SEEN IN YEARS."
- Charles Isherwood, The New York Times

"Life is very long, " the family's patriarch says and so begins the Tracy Letts' play August: Osage County now running through April 29 at the Imperial Theatre (then to the Music Box through July 6). Beverly Weston, this family's patriarch, is quoting T.S. Eliot and is in the midst of hiring a live in housekeeper as the play opens. Johnna, the American Indian, is hired and his last words after this exchange is more T.S. Eliot, "Here we go round the prickly pear, prickly pear prickly pear." Oh boy, he's got that right.

The play crashes and careens around the lives of this family living outside Pawhuska, Oklahoma 60 miles northwest of Tulsa. From the pill-popping mother to the three daughters each with their own dark secrets, it's a play where the women take center stage. Deanna Dunagan as Violet Weston, the family's drug-addled matriarch, is fantastic. She's a mix of Martha from Who's Afraid Of Virginia Wolf with a dash of Blanche Dubois and a healthy dosage of Violet Venable from Tennessee Williams' Suddenly Last Summer. Deanna Dunagan plays the part to perfection and is a force to be reckoned with on stage. Amy Morton, who plays the eldest daughter Barbara, is also unstoppable in her performance as a woman who's marriage is falling apart as she returns to her childhood home. All the actors are superb in this, as you probably have to be to join the Steppenwolf Theater Company.

Tracy Letts, the playwright, mixes comedy with tragedy so skillfully that you almost have to think twice when you hear "He killed himself" delivered as a punch line. He credits his influences to Mr. Williams along with the novels of William Faulkner and Jim Thompson. His writing in this play is fantastic. I'm sure the Tony Awards and the Pulitzer will be calling soon for these actors and Mr. Letts.

I was able to get a $25 ticket ($36 after all those crazy surcharges) and sat in the very back row of the mezzanine last Sunday. You sure couldn't bake a souffle up there, but it was perfect. I could hear and see everything plus I paid a third of what others paid and saw with a partial view. Be aware that some of the action takes place on the third story of this country house set and if you are sitting in the rear orchestra you'll miss some of it. The play is 3 1/2 hours long with two intermissions. I know that sounds like a lot, but I could have stayed for another 3 1/2 as I watched this American family come unglued. August: Osage County is not be missed in my opinion.

DUFFY—A NEW OLD VOICE

"And so to the year's brightest new talent: the pocket-sized Welsh girl with the voice of a '60s soul diva. Move over Amy Winehouse..." --Q Magazine

I just got my hands on an album sampler from Duffy the other day and lucky, lucky me. I had heard about her from various sources, but it was last Saturday afternoon when I first heard her voice. I was listening to Anne Litt's show on KCRW.com. She just played a Dusty Springfield song and then suddenly I heard a new song called "Warwick Avenue". Something inside told me that was her. That was Duffy and I was blown away.

I went online to learn that she's from a small town in North Whales and made her new album with former Suede guitarist and record producer Bernard Butler. Her sound is definitely inspired from an earlier era, but she's put a new spin on it that cuts through all the other musical clutter. "Mercy" is the first single here and in the U.K. and it's super catchy. I'm sure it will soon be climbing up the charts. Check out the video below. She probably should thank artists like Amy Winehouse for opening the doors for her and her sound, but I think she'll set her own course.

Right now, all I have is this five song sampler. I'll have to keep playing that over and over again until her album ROCKFERRY is available here on May 13.



Check out Duffy. It's so worth the listen.

Vampire Weekend—Blogger Band Makes Good

Indie rock darlings Vampire Weekend got my $11 and I couldn't be happier. I picked up their self-titled debut album today on my lunch break and I am really digging it. Self described "Upper West Side Soweto", the album is a mix of African beats, classical string arrangements and quirky lyrics. Think Graceland meets Tchaikovsky while getting drunk at some bar on the lower east side.

I read about them briefly on Stereogum and then saw their "A Punk" video on Spinner.com. I guess it was the blogs that broke them, but what got me was seeing their very cool album posters up all over the city on Monday. What can I say I'm a sucker for good cover art—an ever declining group of folks these days I'm afraid. I was drawn to the pink washed out front cover Polaroid style shot of a chandelier above a group of party goers. Not sure why, but it made me take notice and then connect the dots back to some of the blog stories I read about earlier. I fell right into the record company's marketing trap. They got me.

The songs are about relationships while referencing architecture, grammar and Cape Cod. Very odd indeed, but very appealing. Vampire Weekend is made up of a group of friends that met while attending Columbia. They've put together a really unusual and in my opinion a must have album for the new year. The blog's have already begun anticipating the backlash to come as this little indie band breaks big and people are already sure they'll fade away like all the other buzz bands before them. I'm not so sure. Regardless of all that, I think it's worth enjoying now.

Check out the video for "A-Punk" video below for a glimpse into their quirky world.