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Is there a more accomplished, ambitious or capable American
songwriter alive than Paul Simon? I suppose you could make the case for Dylan,
but Dylan can't touch Simon for stylistic versatility, emotional investigation
or (though it pains me to say it) sheer intelligibility. And besides: you can't
dance to Dylan. Regardless, for nearly 45 years, Simon has cut a swath through
popular song that deserves as much recognition as can be thrown its way. This
DVD chronicles one such effort: the Library of Congress's celebration of Simon's
having received the inaugural Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. And having now
watched the concert, I'm still waiting for a fitting tribute. You can't
exactly fault the presenters. They tried. The line-up includes such varied
talents as Lyle Lovett ("50 Ways to Leave Your Lover"), Alison Krauss ("The Boxer," "Graceland"), James Taylor ("Slip Slidin' Away," "Still Crazy
After All These Years"), Stephen Marley ("Mother and Child Reunion"), Art
Garfunkel ("Bridge Over Troubled Water," obviously) and many others. But the
nature of events like this is that the arrangements tend toward the eclectic,
rather than the cohesive, or even the pleasing. No matter how charismatic you
might find Marc Antony, for example, it's hard to deny that his versions of "El
Condor Pasa" and "Late in the Evening" leave you longing for the originals. And
by the time Simon himself shows up, he's so besotted with honor that his own
renditions of his own songs both overshadow the other performers and don't quite
live up to his own legendary recordings. Paul Simon is a tough act to follow,
but this isn't the best attempt imaginable.
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| 'Fountains of Wayne: No Better Place' |
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Never a chart-topping sensation, Fountains of Wayne have managed
to amass an impressive career at the smarter margins of mainstream power pop.
Being a critical darling hasn't hurt, but the heart of the band's success is the
clever-clever songwriting partnership of Adam Schlesinger and Chris Collingwood
combined with a driving, Cheap Trick-influenced rock band dynamic. This DVD
captures this marriage and brains and brawn perfectly. The group's rocking live
show doesn't feature much in the way of showbiz frills -- the light show is
basic, there's no choreography and no pyrotechnics. Instead, FoW offers a
battery of great, smart songs at a packed Chicago nightclub, including "Red
Dragon Tattoo," "Radiation Vibe," "Hackensack" and their one and only bona fide
hit, "Stacy's Mom." The only real bonus feature on the DVD is an acoustic set
featuring Schlesinger and Collingwood working through five songs not featured in
the full-band portion. Not bad at all, but again, no frills. This is a good,
solid DVD for fans of the band and mildly curious newcomers.
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| Phish: 'The Clifford Ball' |
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As the old saying goes, there are two kinds of people in this
world: die-hard Phish phans and the rest of us. Well, at long last, here is
something that can delight one group without utterly alienating the
other. There are seven DVDs in this collection, all chronicling the
live prowess of the first of the last of the great jam bands -- and really, the
only one that has a legitimate claim to the Grateful Dead's title. And without
betraying too much of my status as Not the World's Biggest Phish Appreciator, I
can honestly say, having made it through all seven of these discs without any
chemical assistance (OK, I may have zoned out briefly around hour
200), these guys really did know their way around a stage. From epic
grooves that ebb and flow in ways you could never predict to short, sharp bursts
of what you'd really have to call song-based musicianship (they do at times tend
to throw structure away completely, much to the delight of the stoned hordes
thronged at their feet), this was clearly a band full of masters, who knew
exactly what their audience wanted and gave them more -- a lot more -- than they
ever expected. Those of you for whom this is not news will appreciate how the
above-and-beyond approach to the collection extends to the packaging, the sound
and picture quality, and the menus. Even the banter is funny. This is as deluxe
as deluxe gets.
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| Foo Fighters: 'Live at Wembley Stadium' |
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Dave Grohl's post-Nirvana rock band Foo Fighters have surprised
just about everyone -- not only by sticking around, but also by sticking around
in style, as a reliably chart-topping, stadium-filling, megaplatinum name in an
era when the music biz, and rock 'n' roll in particular, is supposed to be dead.
But for those Nirvana fans who may be turned off by Grohl's more straightforward
songwriting tendencies -- that is, away from Cobain's punk scream and toward a
more straight-ahead, four-on-the-floor sound -- this live DVD (the title says it
all) should be a revelation. No rock front man works, or rocks, harder than Dave
Grohl, whose effortless charisma allows him to own any crowd he appears in front
of. As you see him command some 50,000 Brits, you slowly realize that not only
is nearly every song in the set a hit, but a few of them ("Everlong" and "This
Is a Call" among them) are beginning to feel like classics. Classic rock. That's
the Foo Fighters' bread and butter. And in case the message is unclear, the
encore consists of Grohl sharing the stage with the two unquestioned godfathers
of the genre, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin, who join him for
"Rock and Roll" and "Ramble On." Grohl may not quite be to that level yet, but
"Live at Wembley Stadium" is a good indicator of what he's reaching for.
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| Nickelback: 'Live at Sturgis 2006' |
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Through they arrived in the hazy wasteland of growling,
musclebound tough-guy rock that followed the death of alternative and provided a
curious counterpoint to the rise of Britney-style teen pop, Nickelback's
professional adolescence has seen them move toward a more populist,
genre-neutral, trend-and-time-proof stylistic approach -- by which I mean power
ballads. This has led to them outlasting their yarling, rap-rocking brethren and
amassing an arsenal of hits you are almost guaranteed to know if you have
listened to the radio (or been to a dentist's office or a grocery store) in the
last 10 years. Though titles such as "Animals," "Because of You," "Photograph"
and "Side of a Bullet" may not ring a bell, just wait for the chorus to come
around. This MOR hit parade is curiously well-served by the heroic display of
pyrotechnics, solo faces and rehearsed moves the band offers up at this South
Dakota appearance. The sweeping movements of 15 HD cameras certainly don't hurt
either. If ever a rock concert could be called "100 percent pro," it's this one.
Bonus features include a perfunctory behind-the-scenes clip, a video for
"Rockstar" and a bit of history about the semilegendary Sturgis biker rally
event (previous "Rockin' the Rally" headliners: George Thoroughgood, Lynyrd
Skynrd) at which this DVD was taped.
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Movie Violations Buzzing cells, crackling
wrappers and big hats! Are you an annoying theatergoer? So You Wanna Be A Vampire? Two recent (and
very different) DVD vamp releases may help you decide if bloodsucking is the
life for you Start Your Engines With 'Fast
& Furious' roaring through theaters, we look at the greatest car movies
Rotten Real Estate With the
housing market in grave shape, here are some cinematic haunted houses you could
probably get dirt cheap | |
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