Jason Toney

Bonus Beats: The Makeover

As Melissa noted earlier today, we're all about this Mark De Clive-Lowe remix of Watley's Midnight Lounge. The rest of The Makeover is pretty great as well. It features remixes and re-imaginings of some Watley classics and some of her favorite songs (she does a particularly interesting rendition of Madonna's Borderline).

This one, however, is of special interest to me:

A Bed of Roses (featuring 4Hero)

Jody Watley

First of all, y'all know how I love 4Hero. Watley says of 4Hero (The Makeover Liner Notes):

I discovered the music of 4Hero in 1998 - the record was "Two Pages". I was at a apoint in my career where I really felt like giving up. I'd had a huge disappointment with a brief sting at Atlantic Records...I was soured on the music business. When I heard "Two Pages," I was blown away. It reminded me about why I was an artist and what music should be about. My thoughts were - WOW, there are people making music LIKE THIS! This is where I want to be. Being a pop star is one thing - to be an artist is another. It was a dream come true when they asked me to collaborate on this piece. I'm so proud of this song. I kept looking for that one last piece - this was it! The spoken word takes me back to Junior High - Nikki Giovanni was a childhood heroine. This song feels like a defining moment each time I listen to it.

If I was a good music voxer, I would post "Two Pages" but instead I'll post the two songs that "A Bed of Roses" immediately reminded me of.

Brother Sister

The Brand New Heavies

Keep On Movin'

Soul II Soul

One Line: Dreamgirls

...as with The Color Purple, none of these weaknesses will stop black moviegoers from loving Dreamgirls to pieces.

I was going to write a proper review of the film but despite my lack of love for Beyonce's performance, I think Steven Boone wrote the right one.

Books: The Power of Now

The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment

Eckhart Tolle

The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment by Eckhart Tolle (New World Library, 1999). Books were a major part of my gift giving this year and, being slightly amazon.com obsessive, I used their gift guides to inform my purchases. The guides provided by magazine editors were especially helpful and despite myself, I bought a hell of a lot of the suggestions from O. When I received the box in the mail, I realized that all of the items I had purchased had intended recipients except for one: The Power of Now.

I cracked the binding and read the first line of the introduction:

I have little use for the past and rarely think about it.

Whoa. In most conversations I have that are about life and how to live it, my lack of interest in the past is a common theme. Matter of factly, I thought to myself, "Hmmm, I guess I bought this for me." I don't consider myself new age-y at all and struggle with the terminology Tolle uses -- it's hard for me to get down with the "pain-body" and "portals" -- but I do understand the interconnectedness of all things. That this book about the Now found it's way to me now didn't seem "special". It just was.

The book itself is okay. It's significance for me has been in it's ability to get me to focus more on the spiritual concepts I already believe in even if I don't cotton to the namby pamby language. It affirmed some things. It provided some tools for staying in the moment which, as my work life has changed and become more challenging this year, has been a struggle. I'm not usually one for stress but have found myself stressing more as I adjust to new demands. The Power of Now (and my vacation) have helped calm those tendencies.

I'm not a self-help guy and I doubt you will find me grabbing up tomes of spiritual enlightenment often in the future but for the serenity I felt as I closed this book today, I'm grateful.

I recommend this if you're willing to check your cynicism at the door. I know. It was difficult for me, too. But, just for this following "Eureka!" quote, it is worth it:

...change the situation by taking action or by speaking out if necessary or possible; leave the situation or accept it. All else is madness.

Namaste.

Vox Hunt: I'll Never Forget This

Show us an unforgettable memory from 2006.  

One Line: The Daddy

You figure Shaq's idea of a really good time is dangling refrigerators outside a second-story window, perhaps sipping tea with his free hand.

Speakeasy: No Way

At around 3:40, Hudson screams, "I'm staying, I'm staying, and you, and you, and you, you're gonna love me!" and the band bursts into full power right here with the song's main musical motif - a simple but incredibly effective melodic passage that manages to accentuate Hudson's singing beyond where her voice alone could take it...yet never detracts or attempts to compete with her performance. She holds that note - "meeeeeeeeeeeeeeee" before taking it back again into, "you're gonna love me" and the band makes sure that the longer you listen, the deeper you get pulled in with the gravity of it all.

- Jennifer Holiday/Hudson: You're Gonna Love This by Oliver Wang, soul sides, 12.26.06

For me, I pretty much lose it at 2:06 into the song. There's a particular "no way" right there, right before the bridge, that hits me in my core. I've seen this damn movie twice this week and both times at that point, I just want to run out of the theatre. As one of the commentators said on NPR's African-American Roundtable earlier this week, she just takes us there.

Anyway, O-Dub has downloads available of both versions.

Mashable

Beethoven's Fifth Gold Digger (Kanye West vs. Beethoven vs. Walter Murphy)

A plus D

Just go get it. It's free. You too can party like I party on the first Saturday of the month.

And when did this become a strictly music vox?

One Line: Web Design Ish

Web design disasters and HTML horrors are legion, though many usability atrocities are less common than they used to be.

Note: These are the issues I deal with with my clients every day. It is hard balancing usability and guest experience with the desire (and/or requirements or expectations) that you will be cutting edge and "flash"-y. Flash can't do it all, people. Text and pictures is still the internet golden goose.

Bonus Beats: You Don't Know My Name

So, yesterday we hit Melissa with a counter-measure to "You Don't Know My Name" by Alicia Keys. Today, let's look at some remixes.

I'm not sure how I feel about this one:

You Don't Know My Name (Nasty Remix! w_ D.Luv)

Alicia Keys

It's passable but doesn't really do much with the original beat except flip it and speed it up a bit which isn't really necessary because the Kanye West production is so tight already. No, if you're going to work with this track, you need to go a completely different direction:

You Don't Know My Name (Reggae Remix)

Alicia Keys

Oooh Wee! I submit that the reggae remix is better than the original which is saying something but, come on, I always find myself dancing by the end of this track. Let the riddum hit 'em.

Counter-Measures: What's Your Name?

What's Your Name

Leon Ware

While I love Alicia Keys's "You Don't Know My Name" and it's nearly perfect companion video, I always think of this Leon Ware track as the appropriate response to that record with it's chorus, "What's your name? Does it really matter? Would your name make me love you more than I do?"

So, for the crush-heavy Melissa, you've been countered.

During the late '70s, [Leon Ware] placed songs on albums by Minnie Riperton, Marlena Shaw, Melissa Manchester, and Bobby Womack. He issued his third solo album, Inside Is Love, on Fabulous Records in 1979. It reached the R&B charts in December, along with its single, "What's Your Name," establishing him as a recording artist for the first time.

- Leon Ware, Answers.com