Latest Articles

• New Music from Danika Holmes - Living Your Dream

  Jan 26, 2012 Clipclic 0 Comments

  Author: Bob Etier
  

  Danika Holmes is branching out with her new album Living Your Dream--her country-influenced pop has expanded to include bluesy (“Rainy Day Lovin’”) and Bob Dylan (“Forever Young”). While the Dylan cut was a pleasant surprise, Living Your Dream has even more to offer.

  Along with a collection of upbeat love songs (“Kiss and Make Up,” “Rainy Day Lovin’), Holmes penned and sings empowering songs (“Dreams Held Hostage,” “Living Your Dream,” “Make My Own Day,” “Someone New to Forget”) about taking responsibility for one’s own life, living one’s own dreams, and determining which path to take. Even more impressive is “How to Be Beautiful,” a song that teaches girls “how to be beautiful”--“find the good in life, let your words be kind…it’s not what the mirror sees that counts but all the happiness you give out.”

  Holmes’ themes are a more mature version of Taylor Swift’s: life and love may not always be fair, but it’s up to us to make ourselves happy. Songs that reflect disappointment also project a sense of “life goes on.”

  Danika Holmes’ debut album was pleasant, but somewhat unseasoned. Holmes still seems fragile and vulnerable, but she incorporates those qualities with a “sadder but wiser” attitude, transitioning from sweet young thing to a woman who knows that heartbreak is just part of this crazy little thing called life. The time Holmes spent between the two albums was time well spent developing her sound and growing as an artist.

  Living Your Dream will be available on CD March 6, 2012, and is currently available for digital download.

  
  
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• Lana Del Rey: Don’t Write Her Off Just Yet

  Jan 26, 2012 Clipclic 0 Comments

  Author: Scott Finley
  

  The hottest topic in music this week is undoubtedly Lana Del Rey and her spectacular failure on last week’s episode of Saturday Night Live. It’s not at all uncommon for new artists to be hyped up, enjoy brief success, and then fade into obscurity. It is quite rare, however, for an almost-famous artist to book a gig as big as SNL and then commit career suicide live on network television. But such was the case with Lana Del Rey last Saturday, or so it would seem according to countless critics and internet hecklers who have been quick to label the young songstress a talentless hack whose career was dead-on-arrival.

  I say they are dead wrong. In the midst of all this negative publicity, Lana Del Rey’s upcoming album Born To Die has reached #25 on Amazon’s Best Sellers in Music list on pre-sales alone and the music video for her single by the same name is nearing 13 million views on YouTube only a month after its release. Furthermore, her status as a pariah of the music industry has granted her the support of scores of sympathetic teenagers, which is precisely the demographic Del Rey and her label are marketing to. Her music and accompanying videos are almost ludicrously melancholy and are filled with the sort of romanticized nihilism that practically defines adolescence for a large number of people.

  Despite the disaster that currently defines her, I’m inclined to think that Del Rey actually has a fair bit of talent and potential. Many of you are probably questioning how I can say such a thing after witnessing her SNL debacle, and the answer lies in her abundance of live performances readily accessible on YouTube. Some are better than others, but most are infinitely better than what we saw on SNL. Take a look at her performance of “Born To Die” in November at Nouveau Casino.

  
  

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• Beyonce: Etta James Inspired Me

  Jan 26, 2012 Clipclic 0 Comments

  Author: Lulu K. Daniels
  
  Singer Beyoncé, who famously played Etta James in the 2008 film Cadillac Records, is speaking out on the legendary singer’s passing and says she will be missed.

  "This is a huge loss. Etta James was one of the greatest vocalists of our time,” she wrote on her website.

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  “I am so fortunate to have met such a queen," she continued. "Her musical contributions will last a lifetime. Playing Etta James taught me so much about myself, and singing her music inspired me to be a stronger artist. When she effortlessly opened her mouth, you could hear her pain and triumph. Her deeply emotional way of delivering a song told her story with no filter. She was fearless, and had guts. She will be missed."

  Etta famously slammed Beyoncé and President Barack Obama when he picked the new mom to sing Etta’s famous hit At Last at the inaugural ball in 2009.

  At the time Etta said, “Your President, the one with the big ears … he had that woman singing my song. She gone get her ass whipped. The great Beyoncé … I can’t stand Beyoncé,”

  And today Etta’s pal Roseanne Barr slammed Beyoncé and Obama for the snub.

  “I lost ALL respect for Obama when he dissed Etta James in favor of Beyoncé,” she wrote adding that she stopped listening to Beyoncé and husband Jay-Z’s music because, “their arrogance was disgusting.”

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• It’s Here! The New Elvis CD You’ve Been Waiting For

  Jan 26, 2012 Clipclic 0 Comments

  Author: Bob Etier
  

  The “new Elvis CD” can be taken two ways. It could be the new CD by Elvis, or it could be the CD by the new Elvis. Due to the unavailability (to me) of high quality voice recognition software, DNA testing, and voice comparison technology, I will hereby stipulate that Elvis Found Alive, a new CD from Highway 61 Entertainment is exactly as advertised: a brand new collection of songs by the King himself, Elvis Aron Presley, which he recorded under his historic alias “Jon Burrows,” after Joel Gilbert discovered where he’s been living (for further details, see the documentary Elvis Found Alive, available on DVD wherever fine conspiracy theories are sold) for the past few decades. I know what you’re thinking, “If Joel Gilbert says this is really Elvis Presley, then it must be,” and I won’t argue with that. Here.

  The CD kicks off with an inauspicious cover of “Every Breath You Take,” once a hit for the Police. From there it’s all downhill. Perhaps the highlight is a cover of Michael Jackson’s “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’” which is guaranteed to bring tears to your eyes--tears of laughter. When “Elvis” sings Garth Brooks’ megahit, “The Dance,” after the first few notes it’s nearly unrecognizable. “Elvis” sings directly to the audience with “Do You Know Who I Am?,” a nod to his long absence and return.

  Listeners may have a few questions for “Elvis” and Joel Gilbert. For example…a new album by the long-thought-dead Elvis is a certain money-maker, so why the cheesy instrumental back up? Couldn’t you guys have at least sprung for some decent Karaoke? And…why this particular selection of songs? Wouldn’t every songwriter in America be willing to drop everything and pen something incredible for the return of the King? Finally…what didn’t happen to Elvis’ voice? Those familiar with the changes age brought to other popular singers (such as Elvis’ pal Frank Sinatra) expect some age-related changes.

  As for that voice…yeah, “Elvis,” there are times when you sound like Elvis. There are also times when you sound like an Elvis impersonator, and--finally--there are times you sound like a bad Elvis impersonator impersonator impersonating a bad Elvis impersonator. Perhaps your professed love of Elvis impersonators has affected your style and sound.
  Elvis Found Alive album was released digitally December 6, 2011, and on CD January 10, 2012. Additional cuts are: “Heartbreak Hotel,” “Lisa Marie,” “After Loving You,” “Big Boss Man,” an especially anemic version of “That’s All Right Mama,” “Right Here Waiting,” “Are You Lonesome Tonight?,” “Hawaiian Wedding Song,” and the flabbergasting “Elvis Is Back Rap.” For more thrilling information about this unbelievable return, visit Elvisfoundalive.com.
  

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• Warning: Don’t Watch Essential Killing (2010) with Your Dog(s)

  Jan 26, 2012 Clipclic 0 Comments

  Author: Bob Etier

  

  Relentlessly grim, Essential Killing tells the story of a Taliban fighter who is captured by US forces in Afghanistan. After he is captured, he is transported by military vehicle to a “secret detention center in Europe” but there is an accident and he escapes. The remainder of the film chronicles his journey across a snow-covered, unfamiliar landscape (Poland). Vincent Gallo portrays Taliban fighter Mohammed.

  There is little dialogue in writer/director Jerzy Skolimowski’s screenplay, and there are no subtitles. When the fighter encounters other people in this desolate landscape, we understand them as well as he does. Essential Killing pits man against man and man against nature, as Mohammad attempts to escape the military, other people who share this unforgiving wilderness (logger, fisherman, hunter), a pack of wild dogs, and the elements. In order to survive, he kills. In one disturbing scene, he pushes a nursing infant away from its mother so that he can partake of her milk.

   

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• From Tribeca Film: Shut Up Little Man! An Audio Adventure (2011)

  Jan 26, 2012 Clipclic 0 Comments

  Author: Bob Etier
  Published: January 22, 2012 at 6:09 am
  

  

  Living in an apartment means giving up certain things, such as a degree of privacy and silence. One can choose not to know one’s neighbors, but sights, sounds, and smells reinforce their presence. Sometimes the things our neighbors are doing involve us in their lives, leaving us to make momentous decisions based on judging whether, for instance, the fight downstairs has escalated to the point where we should call the police.

  When Eddie and Mitch, two recent college graduates, rented an apartment in San Francisco (1987), the absentee landlord advised them--after they signed the lease--that their next door neighbors were sometimes loud. What the landlord didn’t mention was that the two guys next door, Ray and Peter, had a habit of getting drunk and trading obscenity-laced invective, often into the early morning hours, and usually at the top of their voices. When one of the young men complained about the noise and Ray threatened to kill him, Eddie and Mitch began taping the fights. Thus Shut Up Little Man! was launched.

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