TOP STORY: George Harrison Lives
My favorite Beatle, one of (If not my favorite) musicians, and the reason I bought a Gretsch, George Harrison died Thursday night. He was a hero to me, and inspiration, but not in a sort of kid loves Michael Jordan way, he was a sort of friend, though I never met him. My life as a poet and citizen of this world have been influenced by him. Tho I own and listen to a lot of music (anyone who has seen my collection or talked to me can corroborate on this), Harrison's work stands out among all the songs. I don't know why, perhaps it's our mutual love for fingerstyle guitar or our brother -hood as artists, but I have felt ineffibly connected to his work. Something, My Sweet Lord, As My Guitar Gently Weeps, Here Comes the Sun, and all the solos and leads in between, so much can be said for his music. I'm not sure what I'm going to do without him, but for the past few days, I have promised myself to neglect nothing. Anything could come as a source of inspiration, he isn't there anymore, it's my job, our job, now, to keep the legend going on. (Look for a full tribute to Harrison and his music sometime this weekend on the THUG)NEXT TO THE TOP STORY: THUGficial and SDOAPS
The oppressive policies of the school have unified the page, destroying concepts of freedom and creativity. The loss of our official page (Which was not updated due to these policies) has moved me to create a worthy substitute, the THUGficial page. The THUGficial is the official page put on the 3689.tripod.com domain. It is, however, designed to lend a degree of respectability, as it is an important part of theatre publicity, and in fact, is the only real advertising we do outside the community. Due to the school's stupid servers, I haven't updated yet, the THUGficial will be updated at least once every two days. The already extant splash page will tell you when the page was updated each day (GMT to avoid confusion, hehe). So never fear, the real page is back with a vengence. Also, Jeff and I have a SDOAP, so do some of you. SDOAPS are nifty. Tho, I need your help, send me information on your play, cast, etc. Whatever you want I can post (And with the THUGficial, can update any day). Just send me the info, and I'll post it up. Like I say, each SDOAP, a site. Send me stuff. Got it? Good.Album Review: "The Man With the Horn" by Miles Davis
I believe this is the first (Or, at least, one of the first) albums that Miles put out at the end of his silence in the 80's. For a man who stopped playing for four years, Miles plays a lot, more than I think I ever remember him playing on another album. All of his lines are short, punctuated statements. He plays in a style similar to Bitches' Brew, letting the band carry a riff, then squeeling over them. Bitches Brew and In a Silent Way taught him (And all of us) how to make and carry grooves. This album lies somewhere in between fusion and the down-and-dirty funk of albums like On the Corner. T hough, much of the funkiness is not his, but belongs to Marcus Miller. Though Miles recorded a lot of albums in the 80's (Including the triumph, TUTU, in my opinion, one of the best albums, he ever made), they were almost Marcus Miller albums. Miller's interest in Midi, multi-instrument -alsim, composition, and the fact that he was one of the toughest slap bassists in the land caused him to come to the forefront of Davis's band, even, one might say, eclipsing him. Other musicians are on the album (Including the eccentric and frighteningly skilled Bill Evans, who I was sure had died by then), but the album sounds like Miller and Davis. Miller's tradmark grooves (With slaps and pops that seem to stay in the air forever) and Miles' screechy vibrato-less trumpet drown out all the other memvbers of the band (Largely hired as parts players). However much Miller is on it, Miles is definitely there. He composed almost all the songs (Something he rarely did, especially in the Miller era), but doesn't settle for the position of music director (ala Bitches Brew), he plays, plays a lot, plays fairly well (Though, it is obvious he has not played in a while, especially when compared to TUTU, where he regained his flow). It's a good album, tho I really can't recommend it. Miles's trumpet sound is a lot to stomach for the uninitiated (Just ask my mom), and his chops aren't quite back enough to make it more pleasent. It's decidedly more poppy than anything Miles did before (Obviously the influence of Miller, who is now the record business' #1 pop producer), though the songs he wrote shined (The covers are the real offenders). If you love Miles, buy this album, if you want to get into Miles, buy Sketches of Spain, Birth of the Cool, Porgy and Bess, or any other album with Gil Evans (Like Elevator to the Gallows, which they still haven't released stateside) SCORE:
of 5 penguins.
Haiku For the Taco Bell Chicken Quesedia
Feat of Strength #9
Until Next Week... Have fun and give it up to the Dutch.
