|
|||
CROWS FEET PRODUCTIONS
LIL BRIAN & the Travelers/Worldwide: We always like nutty records and this next wave zydeco/urban fusion is pretty nutty. Not content to keep things in the dusty past, while still respecting his elders, Brian pulls out the mixmaster, like so many of his generation, and proceeds to merrily let the fur fly. Giving his brand of Texas zydeco and urban edge with a Houston flavor, this is the country coming to the city much in the same way the Delta cats headed to Detroit and Chicago a few generations ago. You might have a problem with this if you are a purist, but if you have young, urban ears, this is a breath of fresh, country air, Cajun style.
(Freh’toi)
AUDIOBOOK SUPPLEMENT
HARPER AUDIO
ESSENTIAL HUGHES (read by Langston Hughes): Before there was Gil Scott-Heron and rap, there was Hughes. There probably wouldn’t even be poetry slams and lyricist lounges as we know then today if it wasn’t for this leading light of Harlem Renaissance. A great voice of the civil rights era that was madder and more justified than any pissed off rapper today, Hughes gave voice to the voiceless and put their plight front and center in a way you couldn’t argue with. For the first time on cd, these pre-1967 recordings of his poetry and commentary are just as revealing now as they were back in the day. This is really what they are talking about when they talk about kicking it old school.
ESSENTIAL CUMMINGS (read by EE. Cummings): Cummings is a rite of passage for any artsy high school kid who’s a touch too big for his or her britches. With his abandonment of form and radicalism for his times in evidence, Cummings broke molds that continue to be broken today. A master of experimental and abstract poetry, some of what he did is a lost art today, but his lack of punctuation lives on in almost every email sent. A Frank Zappa for those living the life of the mind, whether you’re too hip for the room today, or ever were, here’s a set of the master giving voice to his timeless works with his own voice.
ELSE HOLMELUND MINARIK (read by Sigourney Weaver)/Little Bear: To celebrate the 50th birthday of Little Bear, all five of the books about him are voiced by Sigourney Weaver and she clocks them all in at under an hour. For the uninitiated, Little Bear is right up there with the best of the other little bears that fuel some of our fave timeless stories. With his pals who are named for what they are, the charming l’il critter will charm anyone who digs all little bears from Paddington to Knut. Fun stuff for kids of all ages.
MAUD HART LOVELACE (read by Sutton Foster)/Betsy Tacy: Two best gal pals in Minnesota based on the author’s childhood give a nice set of rite of passage stories to young ladies that don’t all hinge on the harsh realities of here and now. Kind of like a Lake Wobegon for young ladies, these kind and gentle stories are a nice respite from net gossip web sites, and these unabridged stories don’t have to be blocked. Once in a while, it’s nice to let kids be kids.
Volume 30/Number 283
August 10, 2007
MIDWEST RECORD
830 W. Route 22 #144
Lake Zurich, IL., 60047
CHRIS SPECTOR, Editor and Publisher
(c)2007 Midwest Record
No comments yet.
RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI