JOEY'S PAGE - Joey's Favorite Music Critic

Hello,

I have here a notepad full of short reviews of a lot of my favorite music.  What follows is a lengthy article on these excellent works along with some excerpts of the lyrics:

1.  "Everybody Knows" places high on my list since it has hypnotic instrumentals and Leonard Cohen's evocative vocals.  Lightning really struck twice here.  This is meditative and set-the-mood music at its finest:  "Everybody knows that the dice are loaded... Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed."  Cohen's "The Miracle" is another splendid track.

2.  I heard DJ Tiesto's brilliant composition "Traffic" the first time I went to a nightclub.  My friend was giving light shows with Finger Lights from Spencer's Gifts and I was in awe.  This song is clearly too cool for school.  Through slight repetition and revision, "Traffic" is a head-spinner of a track.  It makes one do a double take.  "Adaggio for Strings" is a poetic remix of a classical piece.  One might remember this song from the films Platoon and El Norte.  Elegant and at times fast-paced, this is as good as techno music gets.

3.  "Isaac" is where Madonna's best work is to be found.  This is peaceful and pretty music that conjures a transcendent, reverie-like state of mind.  The chant by Madonna's friend Isaac is sincere and can be felt in the pit of the listener's stomach.  "Music", a hit back in 2000, is cheerfully redundant.  This infectiously upbeat song has been reworked into a beat that requires full disco gear.  On the new DVD of The Confessions Tour, Madonna and company are clad in white disco suits and do the best dancing I've seen in quite a while.  Some of the supporting dancers are seen rollerskating and their joy of performance is clear.  One can sense the butterflies in their chiseled stomachs:  "Music makes the people come together.  Music makes the bourgeoisie and the rebel."

"Hung Up" is a resonant pop song that mixes eloquent melody with an enveloping score underneath the authoritative vocals.  This song was such a big hit, I heard it played at a nightclub on New Year's eve more than a year after its release.  The track was played as the New Year's countdown at the Lizard Lounge in Dallas, a lounge that Madonna is supposedly enamored of.

4.  "Paint It Black" is a song drenched with regret and a mood not far from bittersweet longing.  It is darkly haunting and has found its way onto the end credits of the films Full Metal Jacket and Devil's Advocate.

5.  "My Friends" is a nostalgic piece of music infused with a melancholic tone.  This is most certainly a masterpiece from the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

6.  "Helena" is a dark, touching, and masterful work from My Chemical Romance.  The music video to this identifies the song as a death ballad of the highest order. Here is a sample:  "Long ago... just like the hearse you die to get in again... burning on, just like a match you strike to incinerate the lives of everyone you know."  "Came a time when every star fall brought you to tears again... Can you hear me?  Are you near me?  Can we pretend?  To leave and then we'll meet again when both our cars collide."  Anyway, this rock song is as pungent as Audioslave's "Like a Stone" or "Supermassive Black Hole" by Muse.  This song, with vocals by Gerard Way, is a powerhouse.

7.  "Sweet Dreams" is an incendiary song from the '80s.  My favorite part of the music video to this is when Annie Lennox points to her eyes with both index fingers.  The remix, by Steve Angello, is more tame and can be admired as fervently as the perfect original song by The Eurythmics (Lennox and Dave Stewart).  By far the best line in the song is "I travel the world and the seven seas."

8.  The "California Dreamin'" remix jazzes up a classic head-trip of a song for new generations to enjoy.  "The leaves are brown and the sky is gray," sings The Mammas & the Pappas.  This song is timeless.

9.  Nine Inch Nails has made works that are aggressively powerful.  Some songs that show Trent Reznor at top form are "Sin," "Closer," The Great Beyond," "Somewhat Damaged," "Sanctified," and "Terrible Lie."  My twin brother Sean also likes "Down In It" and he can usually be found listening to Nine Inch Nails or the Red Hot Chili Peppers when he's rocking out.  We have had the chance to see NIN in concert twice in Dallas.  Here is an excerpt from "The Great Below":  "Ocean pulls me close / and whispers in my ear / the destiny I've chose / all becoming clear / the currents have their say / the time is drawing near / washes me away / makes me disappear / I descend from grace in arms of undertow / I will take my place in the great below."   One can find all kinds of layers in the profound music that this supremely talented artist has to offer.

10.  Daft Punk's charming track "Touch It / Technologic" is jaw-dropping and dazzling stuff.  Hypnotic and extravagantly repetitive in equal measure, this is a song that is symmetrical in nature and a whole lot of fun to dance to.

"Crimson & Clover" is goose bump-inducing music, enough said.  This song made its way onto a cathartic scene in Patty Jenkins's Monster with Charlize Theron and Christina Ricci.

"Love Like Winter" is a mood piece that exudes a velvety and atmospheric tone as it waxes nostalgic about love.  "She exhales vanilla lace, I barely dreamed her yesterday... Read the words in the mirror through the lipstick trace, por siempre.  She says you seem somewhere far away, far away... She bit my lip and drank my war from years before."  The music video to this is exquisite in its photography of a forest in winter.  The main character awakens from an icy sleep only to fall in icy water and be embraced by the lady who exhales vanilla lace.

"Shiny Disco Balls" is more must-listen-to techno.  This is the most exciting track I've heard from DJ Irene.  She collaborated with Carl Cox on this dazzling track.

"Satisfaction" is a repetitive and satisfying electronica piece from Benny Benassi.  This song is a perfect example of a great track that is more style than substance.

Cicada's "The Things You Say" makes it feel as if one has landed in dance music heaven, with its beautiful and graceful score.  Accompanied by reassuring vocals, the piece does get more bombastic at times.

"Every Single Day" by Benny Benassi is infused with powerful emotions and can easily make one weep real tears.  I remember listening to this song while rolling newspapers and it brought me to tears.  The vocalist here sings "Every single day... single hour, I can see your face."

"Last Dance with Mary Jane" is Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers at their best and most poignant and nostalgic.

"White Flag" comes draped in real emotion and is directly reassuring as the vocalist sings "There will be no white flag above my door... I'm in love, and always will be."

The work of Evanescence is filled to the brim with feeling.  Lead singer Amy Lee lends her voluptuous voice to some visceral pieces of music.  Fallen is an excellent album from 2003. 

Two minutes into "Put Your Hands Up for Detroit" (Fedde Le Grand) there is a moment that is like a black hole sucking you in. 

"Split Screen Shower Scene" is a mischievous opus by Felix da Housecat.  It is also a welcome warm-up for listening to Daft Punk's "Touch It / Technologic."  It is reminiscent of a track from the Blade soundtrack.  The music has an infectious charm.

Metallica's "The Unforgiven" is riveting stuff.

"Gimme More" is incorrigible, mischievous, and I loved every minute of it.  The music video with singer Britney Spears dancing is excellent and exciting.

"Dancin'" (Aaron Smith) is passionate material as the vocalist sings "Dancing is what to do... dancing is what I think of you."

"I Just Want to Be a Drummer" (Heavy Rock) is an awesome techno song about how everyone and everything wants to be a DJ.  This is an amusing track and it sounds great (look up the lyrics).

Andain's "Beautiful Things" is slow-paced dance music.  This song has a whole lot of heart behind it:  "No one's calling for me at the door... There's nothing left to see.  What's done is done, this life has got its hold on me."  "I forgot... that I might see... so many... beautiful things."

Cascada is a talented diva and is behind the hits "Everytime We Touch" and "Miracle".

"Around the World" (Daft Punk) is great to listen to, especially the instrumental first minute.  The melody seems to gyrate out of the speakers.

Some assorted Bob Marley songs also seem to put just about anyone at ease; one of the best being "No Woman, No Cry".

"Mad World" is the bracingly emotional song played at the end of the 2001 film Donnie Darko.

"James Brown is Dead" is the first techno track I ever heard.  This bombastic and thrilling song recently played at the 10th anniversary of the Meltdown block party under the stars at the Lizard Lounge in Dallas.  Artist Moby performed a long DJ set there and the party was smashing.  This song was the cherry on top. 

"In the Air Tonight" is an atmospheric song by Phil Collins.

"Margaritaville" is a meditation about relaxing on the weekends:  "Wasting away again in Margaritaville."

"Disco Sirens" by Midfield General is a potently mischievous track released earlier in 2008.  This song really gets my blood pumping.  The singer lady on the track is really in love with those disco sirens.

"Work It" is reminiscent of Daft Punk's "Technologic" and is a fun track to listen to.  The lyrics slowly build to a crescendo; starting at a whisper and then building louder.

"Walking with a Ghost" by Tegan and Sara makes one think about lost love, reconciliation, bad habits, and final goodbyes.  This work is highly emotional and one becomes a better person by listening to this great song.

"Intergalactic" is an energetic track from the Beastie Boys.  "Brass Monkey" is the most danceable song from the Beastie Boys oeuvre.  It is jazzy and charming.

"Free Bird" remix is a smashing tour-de-force.  The song seems full of wisdom and urgency.

"Galvanize" by the Chemical Brothers is quite a party track.  The instrumentals lift you up and make you want to dance.

Audioslave's "Like a Stone" is a deep and potent tone poem:  "On a cobweb afternoon in a room full of emptiness, by a freeway I confess I was lost in the pages of a book full of death, reading how we'll die alone... layed to rest anywhere we want to go... the sky was bruised, the wine was bled."

"Supermassive Black Hole" is my favorite song from Muse.  Their music plays like a blend of different genres.  I heard a local DJ from The Edge (Dallas) saying that this song makes him want to bust out the glow sticks and a pacifier.

Fatboy Slim's "Right Here, Right Now" has the fascinating ability to make one experience a bit of vertigo.  The song's quirky composition supports a feeling of immediacy.

"Insomnia" by Faithless is an ode to all those who suffer from sleep deprivation sometimes, you know who you are.

Way Out West's "Killa" is a hypnotic, bombastic track that one can dance to.  One can also make the DNA symbol, or a figure eight with one's hands, to this song.  The DNA symbol trick is done by placing wrist to wrist and gyrating the hands, making an imaginary crystal ball.  Once one masters "the crystal ball" the move evolves to the DNA symbol through practice.  It is much like jugging.  Another word to describe this dance is "sorcery."  Well that's it for my lecture on dancing.

Dirty South's "It's Too Late" stirs genuine emotion with lyrics like "I left a box of memories lying on the floor."

DJ Jean's "The Launch Relaunched" is a cathartic track that usually makes novice techno listeners ask "Where do I find music like that?"

"It Just Won't Do" is another giddy techno song that is ripe for glowsticking.

Armand Van Helden's "My My My My" is another explosive track:  "My my my my. How did it get this way... where's it going to go... What's it going to take to do it?"

And the list goes on...

Thanks for reading my first music review, loyal readers,

Happy New Year,
Patrick Kelly

p.s.  There are more films that I missed noting when writing my best films list. Here they are:  Rachel, Rachel,  The Three Colors Trilogy (Blue, White & Red), Do the Right Thing, El Norte, The Sweet Hereafter, Star Wars, Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas, Leaving Las Vegas, Natural Born Killers, The Crow.