1. "Frying big fish" - My colleague and good friend Paul Lagunes has a wonderful piece on the problem of, and solutions to, police corruption.
2. A trip across one of the bridges crossing Chennai's Buckingham Canal brings the familiar site of people defecating along the side of the road. Clearly a public health program. Karen Grepin on how the Gates' Foundation is bringing this to public attention.
3. A piece on sportswriter Bill Simmons' new website "Grantland" about the genius that is Friday Night Lights. I love how the article is structured as an "oral history."
Showing posts with label reviews. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reviews. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Review: Chris Cornell 2007 North America Tour
A few weeks ago, I decided to take a five minute break and visit rock-icon Chris Cornell's website. In July, I was lamenting the fact that I would be unable to attend any of his summer concerts, set up to promote his new solo album Carry On, because of a trip to India and South Africa. Actually, I wasn't lamenting it all that much since I was excited to go abroad and Carry On was pretty bad. Anyway, I had heard a rumor that Chris would be starting a new North America tour and wanted to get a sense of whether I would be able to go to any of the concerts.
To my surprise, Chris was set to play at Northern Lights in Clifton Park, NY, on Nov. 10th. The venue is literally 0.9 miles from my parents' place! Within five minutes, I had already bought my tickets and had told pretty much everyone I know that I would be going to the concert. According to the website, Cornell and his touring band would be playing hits from his 13 album career, spanning bands like Soundgarden, Temple of the Dog and Audioslave, as well as some of his solo work.
If that sounds incredible to you, get this: the concert surpassed my expectations on every level. The opening act, the multi-racial Earl Greyhound from New York City, brought in some hard, soul power to the proceedings. A nice little appetizer for ridiculously incredible stuff that was to come.
Cornell made a grand entrance with "Let Me Drown", from the Soundgarden album, Superunknown. Standing at 40+ years, mellowed out, and in the middle of a transition into an adult contemporary like-solo career, Cornell still came out and worked it like old times. A six song acoustic set (which I really enjoyed), including "Call me a Dog," "Like a Stone," "I am the Highway," and his now infamous rendition of "Billie Jean," along with "Arms Around Your Love" was the mellowest this show got. The rest of show featured Cornell screaming and slamming through vocally demanding selections like "Outshined," "Jesus Christ Pose," "Rusty Cage," "Ty Cobb," "Cochise," and "Show Me How to Live."
All in all, he ended up performing 28 songs, with a lot of Soundgarden and Audioslave for the (relatively) older and younger fans alike. I'm guessing its got to be hard to please everyone when sampling from your greatest hits spanning a 20+ year period. It's a testament to the quality, depth and variety of this concert that my only complaint was that Cornell did not perform "Burden in My Hand." No worries, though: the multi-song encore more than made that little point irrelevant.
I could go on all day praising this concert. Instead of doing that, though, I'm going to let the proceedings speak for themselves. Check out this snap and video clip. The sound quality on the latter is quite suspect, mainly because I was so close to the stage and, therefore, the speakers. I hope you can make out that this is a snippet from "Spoonman." Enjoy.
To my surprise, Chris was set to play at Northern Lights in Clifton Park, NY, on Nov. 10th. The venue is literally 0.9 miles from my parents' place! Within five minutes, I had already bought my tickets and had told pretty much everyone I know that I would be going to the concert. According to the website, Cornell and his touring band would be playing hits from his 13 album career, spanning bands like Soundgarden, Temple of the Dog and Audioslave, as well as some of his solo work.
If that sounds incredible to you, get this: the concert surpassed my expectations on every level. The opening act, the multi-racial Earl Greyhound from New York City, brought in some hard, soul power to the proceedings. A nice little appetizer for ridiculously incredible stuff that was to come.
Cornell made a grand entrance with "Let Me Drown", from the Soundgarden album, Superunknown. Standing at 40+ years, mellowed out, and in the middle of a transition into an adult contemporary like-solo career, Cornell still came out and worked it like old times. A six song acoustic set (which I really enjoyed), including "Call me a Dog," "Like a Stone," "I am the Highway," and his now infamous rendition of "Billie Jean," along with "Arms Around Your Love" was the mellowest this show got. The rest of show featured Cornell screaming and slamming through vocally demanding selections like "Outshined," "Jesus Christ Pose," "Rusty Cage," "Ty Cobb," "Cochise," and "Show Me How to Live."
All in all, he ended up performing 28 songs, with a lot of Soundgarden and Audioslave for the (relatively) older and younger fans alike. I'm guessing its got to be hard to please everyone when sampling from your greatest hits spanning a 20+ year period. It's a testament to the quality, depth and variety of this concert that my only complaint was that Cornell did not perform "Burden in My Hand." No worries, though: the multi-song encore more than made that little point irrelevant.
I could go on all day praising this concert. Instead of doing that, though, I'm going to let the proceedings speak for themselves. Check out this snap and video clip. The sound quality on the latter is quite suspect, mainly because I was so close to the stage and, therefore, the speakers. I hope you can make out that this is a snippet from "Spoonman." Enjoy.
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Review: Better than a Killer, by Black Market Radio
After an entire summer of listening to Audioslave, Rage Against the Machine, and Soundgarden over and over, I felt ready to move on to some newer music. Having been in the mood for heavier music for the past few months, I wanted to continue on that line and find something grungy in the Soundgarden or Nirvana style, with lots of screaming, loud guitars and messy riffs.
Black Market Radio is a Seattle based group that attempts to deliver these goods. The group's frontman is Peter Cornell, who happens to be the brother of - you guessed it - Chris Cornell, of Soundgarden and Audioslave fame. Keith Mannino (bass, backing vocals and the occasional guitar) and Johnny D (drums) round out the trio.
Better than a Killer is the group's most recent album and features a decent dose of 90s style grunge for those who are nostalgic or for those who didn't listen to this stuff during middle and high school and only got into it less than a year ago (the latter is me). The title track is pretty good, but the middle of the album is where the meat is. "Link," "Big Stones," "Fight of Your Life" and "Suicide Parlour" are quite good, with introspective and oft depressing vocals combined with some heavy sounds. The rest of the 12-track album is passable. You can listen to some BMR here (definitely have a look and let me know what you think).
The main strength of the album is Peter Cornell. I guess great voices run in that family. Many other reviews note the strong resemblance in the brothers' voices. When Peter goes off in "Link":
So I raise my glass to the fallen angels...
I tip my hat to the fallen angels...
you feel like you're listening to Chris from his Badmotorfinger days.
But I think Peter has distinct and memorable moments that are very much unique to him and him alone. He cultivates his own style and works wonders across a wide variety of songs. For example, I could never imagine Chris belting out "Ghost" the way Peter does.
I'm not sure what the future will look like for Black Market Radio. I haven't seen too many reviews for this album (which released early-mid August) and the buzz hasn't picked up (yet). I definitely hope that this changes and that Peter Cornell gets noticed more than he has and ascends above the label "Chris' Brother."
In an interview early last year, Cornell claimed, "It's like [BMR is] involved in a renaissance of that [older, high quality] sound...It needs a resurgence. There's a lot of fans online that have felt neglected over the last three or four years." The band's motto then was "together we will save rock 'n roll."
Have they succeeded in that quest? I definitely think BMR's sound is, for the most part, a welcome distraction from the tired out stuff that bands like Linkin' Park put out. However, there are times when the band descends into the worn world of new school rock. Perhaps it can't be helped (unless you are the White Stripes).
I rate the album at 6.75/10.
Black Market Radio is a Seattle based group that attempts to deliver these goods. The group's frontman is Peter Cornell, who happens to be the brother of - you guessed it - Chris Cornell, of Soundgarden and Audioslave fame. Keith Mannino (bass, backing vocals and the occasional guitar) and Johnny D (drums) round out the trio.
Better than a Killer is the group's most recent album and features a decent dose of 90s style grunge for those who are nostalgic or for those who didn't listen to this stuff during middle and high school and only got into it less than a year ago (the latter is me). The title track is pretty good, but the middle of the album is where the meat is. "Link," "Big Stones," "Fight of Your Life" and "Suicide Parlour" are quite good, with introspective and oft depressing vocals combined with some heavy sounds. The rest of the 12-track album is passable. You can listen to some BMR here (definitely have a look and let me know what you think).
The main strength of the album is Peter Cornell. I guess great voices run in that family. Many other reviews note the strong resemblance in the brothers' voices. When Peter goes off in "Link":
So I raise my glass to the fallen angels...
I tip my hat to the fallen angels...
you feel like you're listening to Chris from his Badmotorfinger days.
But I think Peter has distinct and memorable moments that are very much unique to him and him alone. He cultivates his own style and works wonders across a wide variety of songs. For example, I could never imagine Chris belting out "Ghost" the way Peter does.
I'm not sure what the future will look like for Black Market Radio. I haven't seen too many reviews for this album (which released early-mid August) and the buzz hasn't picked up (yet). I definitely hope that this changes and that Peter Cornell gets noticed more than he has and ascends above the label "Chris' Brother."
In an interview early last year, Cornell claimed, "It's like [BMR is] involved in a renaissance of that [older, high quality] sound...It needs a resurgence. There's a lot of fans online that have felt neglected over the last three or four years." The band's motto then was "together we will save rock 'n roll."
Have they succeeded in that quest? I definitely think BMR's sound is, for the most part, a welcome distraction from the tired out stuff that bands like Linkin' Park put out. However, there are times when the band descends into the worn world of new school rock. Perhaps it can't be helped (unless you are the White Stripes).
I rate the album at 6.75/10.
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Review: Chak De India!
About a year ago, I watched Kabhi Alveida Na Kehna, a full-scale Bollywood spectacle about love and adultery starring some of the biggest names in the business (Shah Rukh Khan, Rani Mukherjee, Preity Zinta, and the Bachchan boys). The movie was so over the top - too much crying, too much song, too much this, too much that - that I felt compelled to take a long break from Hindi cinema.
A few days ago, I felt ready to get back into the Bollywood sphere. With only a few days left in India, my sister and I decided to watch Chak De India, a movie about the Indian women's field hockey team (field hockey is a very big deal in India), their coach, and their quest to bring glory to the Motherland. A priori, the movie had a few things going for it:
-No love story
-No breaking out into song
-Shah Rukh Khan in the lead
-The movie centers around sports and Indian pride
There were also a few negatives:
-Shah Rukh Khan in the lead
-Produced by Yash Raj Films, which has a history of putting out over the top, gooey cinema
The verdict? Chak De is absolutely fantastic. The movie centers around a former Indian national side field hockey player (Khan) who falls into disgrace by missing a final penalty shot against Pakistan in a World cup final (he is accused of intentionally helping the Pakistanis win and the resulting craziness is well portrayed). Seven years after the fateful missed shot, Khan seeks a chance for retribution by coaching a talented, yet mercurial Indian women's side to World Cup glory.
Not only is Chak De India a good Hindi movie, but its also a darn good sports movie. Yes. I've taken the qualifier 'Hindi' out of the equation. Chak De certainly has all the hackneyed elements of a typical sports film, but the beauty is that each is 'Indianized' in a very effective and compelling matter. Here are some examples:
-Team Bonding: Almost every sports movie centering around a team starts out with the team members at odds with each other. Over the course of the movie, they set their differences aside and become an effective squad. In Chak De, the penultimate team bonding moment occurs when the girls beat up a gang of eve teasers in McDonald's. It a scene that has to be seen to be believed. (Anyone whose ever walked around with a female relative in an Indian city will truly appreciate the moment! This was definitely one of my favorite scenes.)
The other aspect of team bonding which is quite unique is that each of the girls hails from a different state in India. As a result, team bonding is used for a metaphor for national pride superceding regional pride in the goal seeking process.
-The Tortured Coach: The beauty of Shah Rukh Khan's role is that the coach displays steely determination throughout the film in seeking glory for India. Besides his personal demons, there is no other side story or distraction. Khan's coach is tough, unrelenting and driven, and this attitude slowly seeps into the girls' mindset during the course of the film.
Shah Rukh Khan has done a really good job in this film. This is the Swades or Hey! Ram Shah Rukh that I love to watch: restrained and expressive. There is no Kabhi Alveida Na Kehna buffoonery or excessive crying here.
-The Back Stories: Usually there are some compelling back stories for some of the players to make the action more meaningful. In Chak De the stories center around chauvanism, expectations of familial responsibility on the part of women, etc. Very germane to an India that is changing in both economic and sociocultural dimensions.
-The Montages and Action Sequences: Regarding the former, these sports montages are as good as any I've seen (save the Rocky movies). Regarding the latter, apparently each of the girls (all newcomers in the acting arena) were taught to play hockey over the course of some weeks. I know little about field hockey, but the action looks pretty convincing to me. Definitely well done.
The inevitable comparisons will be with Lagaan, a movie about cricket and independence that won international acclaim. I think such comparisons are unfair. While Chak De and Lagaan share common elements - the underdog story and cross-cultural unity in particular - the message and scope of the two movies are completely different.
The bottom line? See this movie. The acting is great, the action is great, the music is rocking and the goose-bump moments are plenty. You also get a lot of social stuff: women's empowerment, national pride and unity, among other messages. This is good fare and, for me personally, a great re-entry into Hindi cinema.
A few days ago, I felt ready to get back into the Bollywood sphere. With only a few days left in India, my sister and I decided to watch Chak De India, a movie about the Indian women's field hockey team (field hockey is a very big deal in India), their coach, and their quest to bring glory to the Motherland. A priori, the movie had a few things going for it:
-No love story
-No breaking out into song
-Shah Rukh Khan in the lead
-The movie centers around sports and Indian pride
There were also a few negatives:
-Shah Rukh Khan in the lead
-Produced by Yash Raj Films, which has a history of putting out over the top, gooey cinema
The verdict? Chak De is absolutely fantastic. The movie centers around a former Indian national side field hockey player (Khan) who falls into disgrace by missing a final penalty shot against Pakistan in a World cup final (he is accused of intentionally helping the Pakistanis win and the resulting craziness is well portrayed). Seven years after the fateful missed shot, Khan seeks a chance for retribution by coaching a talented, yet mercurial Indian women's side to World Cup glory.
Not only is Chak De India a good Hindi movie, but its also a darn good sports movie. Yes. I've taken the qualifier 'Hindi' out of the equation. Chak De certainly has all the hackneyed elements of a typical sports film, but the beauty is that each is 'Indianized' in a very effective and compelling matter. Here are some examples:
-Team Bonding: Almost every sports movie centering around a team starts out with the team members at odds with each other. Over the course of the movie, they set their differences aside and become an effective squad. In Chak De, the penultimate team bonding moment occurs when the girls beat up a gang of eve teasers in McDonald's. It a scene that has to be seen to be believed. (Anyone whose ever walked around with a female relative in an Indian city will truly appreciate the moment! This was definitely one of my favorite scenes.)
The other aspect of team bonding which is quite unique is that each of the girls hails from a different state in India. As a result, team bonding is used for a metaphor for national pride superceding regional pride in the goal seeking process.
-The Tortured Coach: The beauty of Shah Rukh Khan's role is that the coach displays steely determination throughout the film in seeking glory for India. Besides his personal demons, there is no other side story or distraction. Khan's coach is tough, unrelenting and driven, and this attitude slowly seeps into the girls' mindset during the course of the film.
Shah Rukh Khan has done a really good job in this film. This is the Swades or Hey! Ram Shah Rukh that I love to watch: restrained and expressive. There is no Kabhi Alveida Na Kehna buffoonery or excessive crying here.
-The Back Stories: Usually there are some compelling back stories for some of the players to make the action more meaningful. In Chak De the stories center around chauvanism, expectations of familial responsibility on the part of women, etc. Very germane to an India that is changing in both economic and sociocultural dimensions.
-The Montages and Action Sequences: Regarding the former, these sports montages are as good as any I've seen (save the Rocky movies). Regarding the latter, apparently each of the girls (all newcomers in the acting arena) were taught to play hockey over the course of some weeks. I know little about field hockey, but the action looks pretty convincing to me. Definitely well done.
The inevitable comparisons will be with Lagaan, a movie about cricket and independence that won international acclaim. I think such comparisons are unfair. While Chak De and Lagaan share common elements - the underdog story and cross-cultural unity in particular - the message and scope of the two movies are completely different.
The bottom line? See this movie. The acting is great, the action is great, the music is rocking and the goose-bump moments are plenty. You also get a lot of social stuff: women's empowerment, national pride and unity, among other messages. This is good fare and, for me personally, a great re-entry into Hindi cinema.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Review: Icky Thump, White Stripes
Jack White, why do you make such great music? Meg White, ...
Never mind.
Icky Thump is the latest offering in the series of earnest, stripped-down, fun rock-n-roll albums put out by the Stripes. Do you like primal drumbeats, power chords, great lyrics and good variety? How about all that with bagpipes? If you answered yes to the above, you need to listen to this album!
I've been through about 10 listens of this album so far, in locations as diverse as Heathrow airport, the metro in Copenhagen, during a run on Chennai beach, and while getting lost and traversing through an urban slum. For some reason, Thump provided an appropriate soundtrack for each of these experiences, though there is no a priori reason why anyone would think this would be possible.
I think part of the reason Thump works so well is the combination of deep lyrics and the variety. The latter is simply remarkable. Heavy-ish songs like Bone Broke, Little Cream Soda, Rag and Bone are both up-tempo and introspective all at once. These are set against equally introspective but considerably lighter versions, the favorites of mine being 300 MPH Torrential Outpour Blues and Prickly Thorn, But Sweetly Worn. The latter sounds like a Scottish folk-tune.
Of course, the title song, describing an interesting trip through Mexico (see the youtube video!) is phenomenal. My favorite verse is the following:
Well, Americans: What, nothin' better to do?
Why don't you kick yourself out?
You're an immigrant too.
Who's usin' who?
What should we do?
Well you can't be a pimp
And a prostitute too
One could easily imagine this being directed at those curmudgeony and ultimately silly Senate Republicans who oppose the President's stance on immigration.
I give this album 8.5/10. Go listen to it....NOW!
Never mind.
Icky Thump is the latest offering in the series of earnest, stripped-down, fun rock-n-roll albums put out by the Stripes. Do you like primal drumbeats, power chords, great lyrics and good variety? How about all that with bagpipes? If you answered yes to the above, you need to listen to this album!
I've been through about 10 listens of this album so far, in locations as diverse as Heathrow airport, the metro in Copenhagen, during a run on Chennai beach, and while getting lost and traversing through an urban slum. For some reason, Thump provided an appropriate soundtrack for each of these experiences, though there is no a priori reason why anyone would think this would be possible.
I think part of the reason Thump works so well is the combination of deep lyrics and the variety. The latter is simply remarkable. Heavy-ish songs like Bone Broke, Little Cream Soda, Rag and Bone are both up-tempo and introspective all at once. These are set against equally introspective but considerably lighter versions, the favorites of mine being 300 MPH Torrential Outpour Blues and Prickly Thorn, But Sweetly Worn. The latter sounds like a Scottish folk-tune.
Of course, the title song, describing an interesting trip through Mexico (see the youtube video!) is phenomenal. My favorite verse is the following:
Well, Americans: What, nothin' better to do?
Why don't you kick yourself out?
You're an immigrant too.
Who's usin' who?
What should we do?
Well you can't be a pimp
And a prostitute too
One could easily imagine this being directed at those curmudgeony and ultimately silly Senate Republicans who oppose the President's stance on immigration.
I give this album 8.5/10. Go listen to it....NOW!
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Review: Carry On, Chris Cornell; Disturbia
Carry On, Chris Cornell
It's not a stretch to say that Chris Cornell has one of the most incredible voices ever. I've recently gotten into Soundgarden, Temple of the Dog and Audioslave mainly on the strength of this guy's ridiculously good vocals.
Given all that, I rushed out to buy Cornell's latest album, the solo offering "Carry On." I heard prior to the release that it combined elements of hard rock, blues, and pop, with savvy/insightful lyrics breathed to life by Cornell's size 100 (out of 10) vocals. I got so excited by these advances (re)views that I've been advertising his summer concert tour to everyone I know even prior to listening to the album.
How do I feel about this recent offering? Let's just say I give this album a 5/10, where it gets 5 points on the strength of four songs and Cornell's voice. The opening tracks ("No Such Thing" and "Poison Eye") are quite good, building up the expectations for the next 12 tracks. Unfortunately, its pretty much downhill from there until track 6 ("Ghost") and track 14 (the Casino Royale theme). Alright, alright: there are some good moments in there, but these are few and far between.
When I take the morning shuttle to school, the driver always has this crappy adult contemporary station playing in the background. What is sad is that I could easily picture at least a third of the "Carry On" tracks being played on this station.
If you've read "The Alchemist" you'll remember that one of the main points made in the novel is that if someone has a dream or destiny, his/her friends and family should do their part and let the person go to fulfill their hearts desire. It is obvious that Cornell is excited about this new life as a mellower solo artist and this is the direction he has chosen for his music. Thus, as fans, perhaps we should let him go do his thing.
I can run with that. And while doing so, I'll load up on my doses of Soundgarden and Audioslave
Disturbia
I saw this movie on the plane. Somehow, I end up liking every movie I see on an airplane, probably because I hate air travel and any distraction is welcome. Seriously. I saw "Guess Who" starring Ashton Kutcher and Bernie Mac and thought it was the greatest movie ever.
Despite this huge advantage, Disturbia failed to capture my attention. One major positive: Shia LeBouf. That guy can flat out act.
It turns out LeBouf is going to play Harrison Ford's son in the fourth Indiana Jones movie. I only realized what a great move when I saw Disturbia: LeBouf does an incredible "Harrison Ford face." You know, the look he gives in every movie where he looks angry/frustrated and heavily exhales?
Like father, like son.
It's not a stretch to say that Chris Cornell has one of the most incredible voices ever. I've recently gotten into Soundgarden, Temple of the Dog and Audioslave mainly on the strength of this guy's ridiculously good vocals.
Given all that, I rushed out to buy Cornell's latest album, the solo offering "Carry On." I heard prior to the release that it combined elements of hard rock, blues, and pop, with savvy/insightful lyrics breathed to life by Cornell's size 100 (out of 10) vocals. I got so excited by these advances (re)views that I've been advertising his summer concert tour to everyone I know even prior to listening to the album.
How do I feel about this recent offering? Let's just say I give this album a 5/10, where it gets 5 points on the strength of four songs and Cornell's voice. The opening tracks ("No Such Thing" and "Poison Eye") are quite good, building up the expectations for the next 12 tracks. Unfortunately, its pretty much downhill from there until track 6 ("Ghost") and track 14 (the Casino Royale theme). Alright, alright: there are some good moments in there, but these are few and far between.
When I take the morning shuttle to school, the driver always has this crappy adult contemporary station playing in the background. What is sad is that I could easily picture at least a third of the "Carry On" tracks being played on this station.
If you've read "The Alchemist" you'll remember that one of the main points made in the novel is that if someone has a dream or destiny, his/her friends and family should do their part and let the person go to fulfill their hearts desire. It is obvious that Cornell is excited about this new life as a mellower solo artist and this is the direction he has chosen for his music. Thus, as fans, perhaps we should let him go do his thing.
I can run with that. And while doing so, I'll load up on my doses of Soundgarden and Audioslave
Disturbia
I saw this movie on the plane. Somehow, I end up liking every movie I see on an airplane, probably because I hate air travel and any distraction is welcome. Seriously. I saw "Guess Who" starring Ashton Kutcher and Bernie Mac and thought it was the greatest movie ever.
Despite this huge advantage, Disturbia failed to capture my attention. One major positive: Shia LeBouf. That guy can flat out act.
It turns out LeBouf is going to play Harrison Ford's son in the fourth Indiana Jones movie. I only realized what a great move when I saw Disturbia: LeBouf does an incredible "Harrison Ford face." You know, the look he gives in every movie where he looks angry/frustrated and heavily exhales?
Like father, like son.
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