Sesto is the Besto

I would like to take the opportunity to write a few words in English about the great Spanish singer Camilo Sesto, since there is almost nothing on the web for people who can only read and understand the English language.

I got into Camilo Sesto in the summer of 2008 when I was routinely scouring the Latin Pop music bins at the FYE in Torrington, CT. I found a cd compilation and I gave it a scan with their digital listening system. I was trans-fixed from the first note. The music was brilliantly composed and arranged (which Camilo does himself) and his voice is just heavenly.

So, I quickly set out to get my hands on whatever other cd's I could. I wound up spending a small fortune in the acquisition of about nine titles from his discography that were only available as import titles from independent sellers on Amazon Marketplace. I was able to get some inexpensive but poor-quality domestic releases of about five other titles. The only cd that was reasonably priced and had good sound quality was his cd from 2003 called "Alma."

Although several of the titles are really good albums, not everything I collected made me jump for joy. I found that I related less to his work from the early 70's, but that his work from later in that decade and beyond is where it gets really good for me. If I had to do it all again, here's what I would pick up:

• Sentimientos (from 1978)












• Horas de Amor (from 1979)
















• Amaneciendo (from 1980)












• Con Ganas (from 1983)












• Amanecer/1984 (from 1984)












• Tuyo (from 1985)












• Agenda de Baile (from 1986)












• A Voluntad Del Cielo (from 1991)












• Amor Sin Vertigo (1994)












• Alma (2003)

The reviews for Amor Sin Vertigo (from 1994) complain a lot about Camilo's vocal performance not being up to par. Okay, so years of hitting amazing high notes caused some wear and tear on the vocal cords. It happens, people. He's only human. I still found it a very good mid-90's pop album by him and I'm very happy to have it in my collection. He seemed to regain a better control of his voice and a broader range for his 2003 outing "Alma."

All in all, I just find his music to be very beautiful. His sense of melodic phrasing is unparalleled in pop music, in my opinion, both in his abilities as a composer and as a singer.

Can you believe I'm blogging again after a 5-year hiatus, Amber???

Hi.

Wow.

Finally remembered my username and password for this blog account so I can blog again.

Not too much to say.

Got into horse-racing after seeing a phenomenal documentary on ESPN about the jockey Chris Antley and how he almost won the triple-crown on a horse named Charismatic in 1999.

For TV shows, I enjoy Lucille Ball's second major sit-come "The Lucy Show."

For movies, the Alfred Hitchcock movies are really good.  Just watched "Vertigo" again recently.

For music, I've been into the Cranberries.

oh my gosh now i realize that i want to take the opportunity to discuss my life for real right now.  i actually kind of don't like it.  i work at target and it stinks and i make no money.

but i should be looking at God and not my problems.  there is no problem so big that God cannot solve it.

Okay, I feel better now. 

but, my dad is getting old and cannot think as clearly as he used to so we have to explain things to him over and over and i need to pray for patience to be compassionate towards him and not nasty.

The Carpenters are still good but I've listened to absolutely everything they've recorded a hundred and fifty-five billion times.

same thing with 2nd Chapter of Acts.

I've been getting back into Suzanne Vega but i think her Mitchell-Froom produced albums are just not going to glow as brightly anymore since she had that nasty divorce from him.  Glad she's happily remarried but still, that casts a pall on those albums.

Looking forward to the Brian Wilson bio-pic starring Paul Dano.

Got into Annie Lennox again briefly before realizing that her two major solo albums from the 90's really are way too synthy and in not a good way.  Too bad. 

On Youtube, i saw a fabulous video for Swing out Sister "Stone Soul Picnic" which comes from a new live concert cd/dvd they released.  I'd like to get that. 

I recorded a three-song project which will be coming out soon.  And, i sing with my church's worship group.  tomorrow i sing alone because Pastor Dave is on vacation. 

Josh Recommends: Summer 2008

Music:  Cleo Laine

DVD's:  Manhattan Transfer Vocalese Live

Sports Figures:  Anything Tennis so you can stare at Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal

TV:  Project Runway

Food:  Dairy Queen

Books:  The best book to read is the Bible

Pants:  Those tan ones you've had forever

Shirt:  Those new ones you bought at Wal-Mart

Job:  That crappy one you've had for the last two years

Living Situation:  With your sickeningly cheerful parents and sister in a house that's way too small for four people

Alice back from Looking Glass Land

Hi anyone and everyone who ever read my blog,

I'm back from Looking Glass Land now!!!  It took a while for me to figure out how to change my blog account over to a google account.  Plus, I changed jobs and don't work at the fun world of Borders anymore.  But, I'll try to pull something interesting out of my butt for y'all.  

What was 2007 like for me in the world of music and movies?  New David Lynch movie "Inland Empire" -- AWESOME.  Edith Piaf biopic "La Vie En Rose" starring Marion Cotillard -- AWESOME.  Latest Rasputina album "Oh Perilous World" -- By far the best new CD of 2007.  Pick it up, people!!!  I got into the Fiery Furnaces.  They are awesome.  Their new album "Widow City" is decent, but their masterpiece is the 2004 album "Blueberry Boat."  I also got into Latin Pop last year.  For a while it looked like Olga Tanon (please mentally put a tilda over the middle 'n' in her last name) would be my favorite singer in this genre, but then I discovered Elvis Crespo and I like him even better.  His 2007 album "Regreso El Jefe" is pop perfection.

What about 2008 so far?  Well, I saw the new Paul Thomas Anderson movie "There Will Be Blood" and I think it is brilliant.  I just picked up the new recording of Vivaldi's "Four Seasons" with Sarah Chang and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra.  I'll be rooting for Daniel Day-Lewis and Marion Cotillard for best Actor Oscars this year.  Plus, I'd like to see Stephan Lambiel kick Evan Lysacek's butt at the World Championships of Figure Skating in March, but if Johnny Weir wins, that's okay, too.

Manhattan Transfer fanhood and other diseases

I'm going to write today about how incredibly frustrating it was to be a Manhattan Transfer fan in the 90's, but ultimately how it all paid off when they released "Vibrate" in 2004.

Here's my history with the Transfer:

Sometime in 1991, I see the closing credits of Entertainment Tonight and they are playing a Manhattan Transfer video for their new song "The Offbeat of Avenues." I had never heard of these people. Of course, I was only 14 at the time, but still. My older brother said, "Oh sure, The Manhattan Transfer... they're really good." It is so funny how much my brother knew about music back then, especially since he's a staunch Baptist now and only listens to classical, but that's another story.

So, the next chance I get, someone in my family drives me to Strawberries record store so I can peruse the Manhattan Transfer tapes and figure out which one has that song on it. It turns out, that album would not come out for another month, so I picked up their 1985 album "Vocalese" as my first Manhattan Transfer purchase. I immediately fell in love with their awesome harmonies and solo voices as well. It wasn't hard for me to figure out who was who and which voice corresponded to which picture, unlike the Indigo Girls where it took me, like, ten years to figure out that the brown-haired one has the husky voice.

When "The Offbeat of Avenues" album came out a month later, I was completely floored. It really is on the short list of amazing albums from the early 90's that completely knocked my socks off. The other two albums on that list are k. d. lang's "Ingenue" and Suzanne Vega's "99.9F" I thought The Manhattan Transfer was completely genius for putting out such an awesome pop/jazz album. For the remainder of that Fall, I steadily picked up most of the rest of their catalogue to that point: "Extensions," "Mecca for Moderns," "Bodies and Souls," and "Brasil." All of these albums are totally awesome, especially for a 14-year old. The only one that hasn't aged very well with me is "Bodies and Souls," but it still has its moments.

So, you'd think a vocal group with such a great track record would be able to follow up "The Offbeat of Avenues" with another winner. WRONG. After a very nice Christmas album in 1992, the Transfer's next regular album was "Tonin'" in 1994. "Tonin'" features about 13 really uninspired covers of 50's and 60's Motown and Birth of Rock 'N Roll tunes recorded with the original artists or other guest pop artists. Incredibly boring. And, then in 1997, they released "Swing" which I couldn't get into at the time of release. It seemed to me like TMT were just hopping on the neo-swing movement sparked by the Squirrel Nut Zippers around that time. I was kinda' annoyed that TMT were just following a trend. I was finally able to get into "Swing" just this year (9 years later) and I realize my assumptions about the album were totally wrong. I now consider "Swing" one of TMT's all-time great albums. But, my feelings about the album during the 90's was not very high, so they continued to sink in my book.

And, then, in 2000, TMT released what is widely regarded as their worst album EVER -- "The Spirit of St. Louis." There are plenty of scathing reviews on Amazon.com that you can read to understand just what is wrong with the CD. So, I had all but completely written the Manhattan Transfer off. But, then, by some miracle, they actually managed to release a superb new album in 2004 called "Vibrate." I wasn't even going to pick it up, but I recognized some of the song titles like "Walking in New York" by Brenda Russell (who I love) and "The Greek Song" by Rufus Wainwright who I'm not such a big fan of but I thought it would be interesting to hear the Manhattan Transfer cover. And, the album is really, really good and it restores TMT to their proper place in my list of favorite artists. I think it was ultimately "Vibrate" that led me to give "Swing" another listen and realize it really is a very good album.

So, I guess that's it for my Manhattan Transfer blog. Oh, and if you get a chance, try to buy their "Vocalese Live" DVD from 1986. That is simply astounding.

Mix Tape for the World

If I could make a mix-tape for the world, here's what I would put on it: (specific song choices still to come) (Oh, yeah, and this is fantasizing that a tape could actually hold this much material) (One more thing, it would probably be a CD, but I still think the term mix-tape is so cool)

1. Laurie Anderson
2. Basia
3. Kate Bush
4. Carpenters
5. Heart
6. 2nd Chapter of Acts
7. Sara Hickman
8. Christine Lavin
9. Patti LuPone
10. Joni Mitchell
11. Kate and Anna McGarrigle
12. Manhattan Transfer
13. The Roches
14. Linda Ronstadt
15. Buffy Sainte-Marie
16. Jane Siberry
17. Barbra Streisand
18. Suzanne Vega
19. Brian Wilson
20. Everything But The Girl
21. Rickie Lee Jones
22. Kirsty MacColl
23. Sam Phillips
24. Patrice Rushen
25. Brenda Russell
26. Donna Summer
27. Angela Winbush
28. Shawn Colvin
29. Amy Grant
30. Nanci Griffith
31. Emmylou Harris
32. Indigo Girls
33. k. d. lang
34. Bette Midler
35. Happy Rhodes
36. Kate St. John
37. Jonatha Brooke
38. They Might Be Giants
39. Sarah Brightman
40. Moya Brennan
41. Nicky Holland
42. Aimee Mann
43. Mike Oldfield
44. Toyah
45. Shania Twain
46. Julia Fordham
47. Michelle Shocked
48. Edie Brickell
49. Carly Simon
50. Karen Mantler
51. Saint Etienne
52. Swing Out Sister
53. Bee Gees
54. Julee Cruise
55. Bjork
56. Ben Folds
57. Abba
58. B-52's
59. Cranberries
60. Pet Shop Boys
61. Bernadette Peters
62. The Minus 5
63. Todd Rundgren
64. Chris Isaak
65. Lisa Loeb
66. Dot Allison
67. Tori Amos
68. Rasputina
69. Jules Shear
70. Vonda Shepard
71. Syd Straw
72. 10,000 Maniacs (w/ Mary Ramsey)
73. Jennifer Holliday
74. John Barrowman
75. Jonathan Richman
76. Dusty Springfield
77. Diana Krall
78. Tears for Fears
79. Blink-182
80. Nellie McKay
81. Patti Scialfa
82. Susannah McCorkle
83. Steely Dan
84. Barry Manilow
85. Michael McDonald
86. Leonard Cohen
87. Carol Welsman
88. Debbie Friedman
89. Electric Light Orchestra
90. Roy Orbison
91. Scissor Sisters
92. New York Voices

If the Queer Eye guys were Starburst Flavors

Okay,

So, I'm just sick and twisted enough so that I actually drive down the road and think of which of the Fab 5 Queer Guys match which Starburst Flavors. Here's what I came up with:

Strawberry (or Pink) = Carson, of course

Lemon (or Yellow) = Ted Allen, the food guy

Orange (also Orange) = Thom Filicia, the interior design guy

Cherry (or Red) = Kyan and Jai, the two less obviously helpful ones

What's Josh Been Listening To?

Okay, here's what's been spinning lately...

Donna Summer, Once Upon a Time
Michelle Shocked, Mexican Standoff
Saint Etienne, Smash the System: Singles and More
Todd Rundgren, Go Ahead, Ignore Me: The Best of Todd Rundgren
Dusty Springfield, Dusty in Memphis
Steely Dan, Gaucho
Peter Allen, The Boy from Down Under
Burt Bacharach, What the World Needs Now
Christopher Cross, The Very Best Of
Dionne Warwick, The Very Best Of