Arts
Max Martini's Entertainment Shorts
Max P. Martini's Entertainment Shorts
Rating
Scale 
- "No need – it's that good!"
- "What the hell – just one!"-
"Oh yeah – that's better!"
- "You'll need 'em!"-
"Wake me up when it's over!" |
by Max P. Martini
Recreational
Heretic |
Their
Take: Recreational Heretic is a collection of 17 songs that were
written by Will Killhour over a span from 1972 to 2003. Killhour wrote
at least half the songs on the CD for a musical comedy about a "trans-gendered,
bi-racial love affair in the underground world of New Orleans." He
describes his music as fun and occasionally interesting but hardly evolutionary.
Killhour has played professionally since 1970, attended Goddard College,
and currently lives in Central Vermont. You can catch him performing locally
with his Authentic Organic Anarchist Orchestra.
Max's Take: You'll have to listen to Recreational
Heretic more than once to really appreciate it. Many of the songs
are both personal and unflinching commentaries on society, such as "Bottles
& Cans," "I'm Worthy," and "Alienation."
The music reflects regional influences as well including bluegrass, Cajun,
country, folk and rock. Killhour says, "These aren't my oldest songs
or my newest, yet they are among the most requested of my original material."
Max's rating:
Antigua |
Their
Take: Slip in Antigua by Parisian duo Tom (Thomas Naim) and Joy
(Joyce Hoze-Liwer) and you'll be immersed in a beautifully fragrant cocktail
made up of equal parts bossa nova, afrobeat, and jazz with a splash of
French chanson. The duo, accompanied by a band of five musicians, deliver
a sophisticated, multi-lingual (French, Portuguese, Spanish, English)
album of songs that evoke soothing, welcome images of balmy beaches, Parisian
cafes, and breezy summer Sunday afternoons.
Max's Take: Antigua features thirteen
songs that clearly reflect Tom & Joy's love for a wide spectrum of
music and musical arrangements. The CD opens with the mood-setting "Meditation"
and ends with "Lluvia" (written and sung in Spanish -- could
be the perfect ending to any Pedro Almodovar film). Antigua is a modern,
cosmopolitan album that is rich in variety, influence, and personality.
Max's rating:
Party
Groove: Soakin Wet |
Their
Take: For five consecutive years, Don Turner's Soakin Wet party has been
hailed as one of New York City’s best outdoor summer parties. The
Soakin Wet parties help raise money for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.
DJ David Knapp returns after making a huge splash in 2004 with volume
one to create Soakin Wet Volume 2, which is the seventh event in 2005
to be included in the Party Groove CD series. The CD features a continuous
mix of fourteen songs that Knapp says includes "some great outdoor
party songs, some big hits that will encourage in listeners a little nostalgia
when the summer has passed, and the kind of tribal energy tracks that
make people move!"
Max's Take: Party Groove: Soakin Wet Volume 2 kicks off with
Jody Watley's classic "Looking For A New Love" and ends with
"Could It Be Magic" by Vic & Chicola (featuring Mickiyagi).
The CD features several Billboard #1 hits such as "Accept Me"
and also has a couple of tribal favorites including "Tabasco"
and "The Latin Express." All in all a high-energy party CD but
not one of the best in the Party Groove series.
Max's rating:
Love
Life & Be Happy |
Their
Take: Georgie Porgie is a young talent who can do it all. He is a singer,
songwriter, recording artist, record producer, independent dance music
recording mogul, and one of the hottest dance-music remixers to come of
out Chicago, IL. He is known as Georgie Porgie to some, George Andros
to others, or just plain Georgie to his fans worldwide. Georgie Porgie's
uplifting songs of love, life, and strength reflect the hopes and dreams
of many in which he translates so eloquently through his gift of music.
Love Life & Be Happy is the long awaited album that finally
collects most of Georgie Porgie's chart topping singles.
Max's Take: With one listen Love
Life & Be Happy, you too will see why Georgie Porgie's lyrical
band and power of rhythm can flip an empty dance floor into one which
celebrates the joy of life with exuberance, contemplation, and optimism.
If you are looking for soulful, well-written, musical artistry with great
dance beats that will groove you, or heartfelt, pop-like ballads that
will move you, then this is the CD for you. It will definitely inspire
you to love life and be happy.
Max's rating:
Max is willing to try anything once, does enjoy an occasional martini
or two, but prefers Tab®!