the Color of Context

Apr 10

Leona Lewis: Spiritless is more like it
Spirit, J Records
Release date: 8 April 2008

By Joe DeRosa

There can be no argument: Leona Lewis can sing. The 23-year-old Londoner has been perfecting her craft since the age of six and has a voice that will knock you on your ass. The problem? With this lackluster debut, will anyone listen?

In 2006, Leona Lewis was the devastatingly-talented winner of series three of The X Factor, the British equivalent of American Idol. During the course of the show, producer Simon Cowell exclaimed that Lewis was one of the best singers he had ever heard. She won the talent competition with 60 percent of the 8 million votes cast in the finale. She sang iconic pop songs like Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” and Celine Dion’s “All By Myself,” always to a chorus of laud and praise from the judges. When she won, Cowell announced that they would take their time to put together the best album possible. He enlisted the help of an all-star lineup, including writers and producers Akon, Avril Lavigne, Ne-Yo, Dallas Austin, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, and, of course, the legendary Clive Davis. One would think that, with a crew like this, the album would go on to sell millions. And it has. Since its November release in the U.K., sales have surpassed the 2.5 million mark. Driven by the powerful single “Bleeding Love,” written by Grammy nominee Ryan Tedder and American pop singer Jesse McCartney, Spirit continues to dominate the British charts, and has become the fastest selling British debut album of all time. I assure you, this is where the excitement ends.

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Apr 5

The Ruins

The Ruins: A true horror that gets under your skin
Release date: 4 April 2008

By Joe DeRosa

Have you ever found a bug crawling up your arm and then for the rest of the day you feel like there are bugs all over you? Now imagine the bug is a vine crawling up your arm. And imagine that you’ve just watched this vine devour your best friend. You’d probably be pretty creeped out. And there you have the premise for The Ruins–an extremely well-acted adaptation of the Scott Smith novel that Stephen King called, “The best horror novel of the decade.” The Ruins, rated R, tells the story of four friends on vacation in Mexico who meet up with Mathias, a fellow tourist from Germany. It seems Mathias’s brother, Heinrich, disappeared a few days ago with a young woman, and Mathias convinces his new friends to embark on a journey to find him. The adventure leads them to an ancient Mayan temple, way off the beaten path, that, for reasons unbeknownst to them, the locals wish the young travelers to steer clear from. Unfortunately, it’s already too late. Now that the group has entered the temple, the Mayans will not let them leave, even taking violent precautions to block any chance of escape. And so, life on the temple begins. The group soon discovers that they are not alone, but the only other inhabitant of the temple is a suspiciously animated vine. Things go from bad to worse when they find themselves trapped for days with little food or water, and as injuries occur, the vine reveals a taste for human blood. Read the rest of this entry »

Apr 3

Sun Kil Moon

Sun Kil Moon: A wandering soul rises for the light
April, Caldo Verde
Release date: 1 April 2008

By Jerilyn Covert

“A lot of the songs I write are very personal and introspective. But others are observational. I wrote a song recently about my cat … I was down in Mexico and I was missing my cat, so I wrote a song. That one, obviously, would have to be considered very personal.”

¾ Mark Kozelek, in a 1998 interview for The Press, in Atlantic City

Does a song have to be long to express longing? In this case, yes, it does, because this particular kind of longing¾ the Mark Kozelek kind¾ is one that lingers over a lifetime besotted with regret, long-lost friends, and the death of loved ones. Part of him wishes to return to childhood innocence, the other tries to move forward, and the tension in between creates a space where Kozelek can dwell, in more ways than one. His is a tale of love lost and spiritual renewal, told against the well-lit backdrop of his vast classic rock collection. In the past, Kozelek, formerly of Red House Painters, currently of Sun Kil Moon, has earned critical acclaim interpreting the likes of rockers who would surely be found in that collection: Neil Diamond, John Denver, Kiss, Yes, and AC/DC. (“Kozelek doesn’t cover tunes,” wrote one reviewer for the Winnipeg Sun, “he recovers them.”) Three years ago, he started his own label, Caldo Verde, so he could release an entire album of Modest Mouse covers, which other record companies refused to touch. But for all his recognition as a cover artist, his own songs, with such heart and sincerity, are that much more emotionally wrenching. “A lot of the songs I write are very personal and introspective,” he has said. Indeed, his pain and his solace shine through in descriptions of sunlit meadows and starry skies almost as poignantly as he must have felt them. The hypnotic reprisals echo back a longing and desire that is as massive as the song lengths themselves. And as the mood begins to set, we can see why some of his tracks verge on 10 minutes long. In any case, a man obsessed does not pen three-minute ditties. Read the rest of this entry »

Apr 1

Kylie Minogue

Kylie Minogue: X hits the mark
X, EMI Records
Release date: 1 April 2008

By Joe DeRosa
When Lindsay Lohan was asked what she wanted her new album to sound like, she said she wanted it dance-y, like Kylie Minogue. If X is any indication, she has but one place to turn for inspiration: the 1980s. Just one look at the album cover is enough to bring back memories of the gone-but-not-forgotten decade. This translates to the music, as well. The opening track, “2 Hearts,” has a piano-driven chorus, which sets the tone for the entire album that follows: Get up, have fun, and dance. Read the rest of this entry »

Mar 28

Stop-Loss

Stop-Loss: Boys don’t go AWOL
Release date: 28 March 2008
By Jerilyn Covert

Hope and hopelessness go together like peace and war. One is rendered meaningless without the other. And in Stop-Loss, hope hangs like an intangible smoke and threatens to disappear at any moment. However, Sgt. Brandon King, played by Ryan Phillipe, certainly has enough emotional kindling to keep any fire burning, especially after his happy homecoming is tarnished by orders to return to Iraq against his will even though he’s fulfilled his contract with the army. When an angry speech to his lieutenant colonel proves ineffective, Brandon decides to drive to Washington D.C. with his childhood friend Michelle (Abbie Cornish) under the naïve assumption that a friendly Texas senator will help him. But as reality sets in, Brandon realizes his only real options: return to Iraq or move to Canada.

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Mar 25

Panic at the Disco

Panic at the Disco: Emo rockers trade fad for Fab
Pretty. Odd., Decaydance, Fueled by Ramen
Release date: 25 March 2008

By Joe Derosa
“You don’t have to worry, because we’re still the same band.”

So proclaims lead singer Brendon Urie in the opening track to Panic at the Disco’s sophomore album Pretty. Odd. I have to disagree. This¾ literally¾ is not the same band. Urie (vocals), Ryan Ross (guitar) and Spencer Smith (drums) have been joined by Jon Walker, who replaced Brent Wilson, on bass. They’ve dropped the exclamation point from their name and traded in their eyeliner, gimmicky song titles and even producer Matt Squire. So, you may ask, what’s left, then, of Panic at the Disco? Quite frankly, not much that resembles the same band.

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Mar 21

Shutter

Shutter: The Ring is still king
Release date: 21 March 2008
By Joe Derosa

In the 1970’s, American moviegoers were introduced to a new kind of horror known as the slasher film. Based on the popularity of movies like Halloween and Friday the 13^th, more and more slasher films hit the theaters, each trying to capitalize on the elements that seemed to have made those films popular in the first place¾ a specific date or holiday such as April Fool’s Day, or a masked killer as in The Prowler. Unfortunately, even today, 30 years later, we are watching watered-down versions that just aren’t as good as the classics they feebly try to imitate. Though the slasher film doesn’t really have an audience in Asia, that doesn’t leave them without a horror genre of their own: the ghost story. When films like Ringu (The Ring) and Ju-on (The Grudge) first came out, they were fresh, interesting¾ and scary! But much like the American slasher film, we have seen, with the passing of each year, yet another movie released that tries to capture the same lightning in a bottle as the originals they sought to emulate.

Shutter is the latest in this ever growing line of Asian horror remakes. In this supernatural thriller directed by Masayuki Ochiai, the ghost haunts the protagonists, not through a videotape, but rather, the lens of a camera. This particular brand of haunting is dubbed spirit photography, an event in which images of the dead are caught on film. Of course, the notion that ghosts can be caught on film is not nearly as eerie as its implications; because if that blurriness of light behind the people posing in the photo truly is a visitor from the beyond, then not only are we the living able to see spirits, but even scarier, they can see¾ can watch¾ us, and without any physical boundaries to deter them. Scarier still, this particular ghost is out for vengeance.

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Mar 18

Yael Naim

Yael Naim: She speaks in the universal tongue: melody
Yael Naim, Atlantic Records
Release date: 18 March 2008

By Joe DeRosa
You may not know it yet, but you are familiar with Yael Naim. For the past couple months, you’ve been singing along with her each time that Apple commercial comes on¾ you know, the one where the new Macbook Air slips sleekly out of a manila envelope? Yup, that’s her! Naim is the one responsible for the infectious melody and catchy pop lyrics of “New Soul.” As one of the many who fell in love with the song, I set out to learn more about the artist behind it. Once I found out the singer-songwriter’s name, I immediately went to (where else?) iTunes and downloaded her album. Evidently, a few others had the same idea. After its American premiere, “New Soul” quickly became the number-one most-downloaded song on iTunes. By that time, the album had already topped the mp3 charts overseas.

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Mar 14

Doomsday

Doomsday: The end is nigh–at least for NM’s winning streak
Release date: 14 March 2008
By Joe DeRosa

Doomsday is a fun movie. And by fun I mean, lots of action, lots of blood, a couple of beheadings and a female lead whom I truly believe would kick my ass. The problem with Doomsday is that it’s written and directed by Neil Marshall. Now that might sound like a dig, but it’s not. With Marshall’s first two feature films, I was captivated. Whether it be his modernization of the werewolf-film genre in Dog Soldiers (2002) or the strong characterization in The Descent (2005), I really got into it. Doomsday, for me, would have been more enjoyable–just as it was–had it been done by someone else. I guess what I mean is, Marshall has set the bar high, and Doomsday just didn’t reach it.

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