We Made This Ourselves MUSIC
Essie Jain's bio describes her music as gentle, warm, open and intimate. And that's exactly what's found on her debut album, We Made This Ourselves. Her soft, almost operatic voice, backed by subtle piano, makes for a stirring debut full of sad, haunting melodies.
"Glory" opens the album with a soft acoustic riff mixed with subtle electric guitar leads that back Jain's.
by Essie Jain
melancholy vocals. "Haze" builds emotional intensity with the powerful refrain, "I am right behind you." "Disgrace" has a waltz feel while "Give"has a building piano part with some quiet strings behind it. "No Mistake" closes the album the way it started with quiet guitar, this time mixed in with some piano.
A lack of variety in dynamics and mood makes the album boring after a few listens. Jain is onto something, but it's just not there yet.
Jain's music is touching, but it can grow tired at times.
★★★
Chris Brown
Chris Brower
B.B. King at Ameristar Casino CONCERT
Showman, great guitarist, old school B.B.K. The."King of the Blues"stopped by the Star Pavilion at the Ameristar Casino in Kansas City, Mo., to play a show on March 31.
Never have I seen a musician with such control over an audience. If he wanted us to clap after a solo, we would. If he wanted us to sing along or repeat after him, we would. If he had told us to get up and start doing the chicken dance, we would have. He had the
audience in a trance.
From a wonderful, guitar-heavy cover of U2's "When Love Comes to Town" to closer "The Thrill Is Gone," King was captivating. Between songs he told stories about when he was younger, expressed his belief that there was no such thing as an ugly woman and talked about what life was like at 81.
He may be old and unable to stand up for an extended period of time — he played the entire concert sitting down
but the dancing he did in his chair would rival most carseat dancing any of us college students have ever done.
Some other highlights were "How Blue Can You Get," "The Letter" and "Key to the Highway," a song that has been covered by many other musicians, including Eric Clapton. The show lasted about an hour and a half, and every second was great.
Brian Clausen
The Lookout •
MOVIE
Young actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt is quickly becoming the king of the neo-noir genre. But while he shows promise, he hasn't had the chance to spread his wings because of taking roles in movies like The Lookout, his latest and blandest.
The movie follows Kansas City high school hockey star Chris Pratt (Gordon-Levitt), whose life is changed forever when he gets into a car accident. Now, he has minor trouble with motor functions, a terrible memory, lives with a blind roommate, Lewis (Jeff Daniels, the picture's savior) and works as a janitor at a local bank.
Things are pretty monotonous for Chris until one night at a bar when he meets Gary (Matthew Goode). Gary lures Chris into friendship, only to tell him that he and his clan are planning on robbing a bank and need Chris' special position to make things go over smoothly. But as the day
of the robbery draws closer, Chris begins to have second thoughts and realizes that he has the power to make the operation a smashing success or a total disaster.
The Lookout isn't a complete failure, but it barely succeeds. What's sad is that the film constantly displays potential, but then drifts toward mediocrity. Screenwriter and first-time director Scott Frank had a great plot with some good characters, but apparently didn't know where to go from there. The end result is a thriller with adequate
suspense and drama, but one that lacks emotion.
Add on top of that a handful of characters and scenes that are totally inconsequential and the film falls even flatter on its face.
The biggest redeeming quality of the movie is the light and funny dialogue delivered by Daniels. But unfortunately, comedic relief does not a good crime drama make, forcing the film to fall back on the thrills that it just can't muster.
★★★ Jared Duncan
ALL RATINGS ARE OUT OF A POSSIBLE FIVE STARS. ★★★★
18→ JAYPLAY 04.05.2007