Girl Power!

By the time Patty Griffin dived into her first song – the childhood-inspired "Chief" – during Ann Arbor's Folk Festival tonight, I was already touching myself to make sure I really was there. I was. Because, by the end of headliners' half of the 4-and-a-half hour show, I melted right into my comfy chair at Hill Auditorium as Griffin (with beeeautiful harmony from Emmylou Harris) gave me a musical morsel I thought I'd leave without: "Mary," a delicate death ode (check out the video recording from a Virginia stop below). It only seemed appropriate that the two gifted guitar goddesses combine folk forces on one of several duets they've recorded. "Mary" no doubt ranks as one of the best. Without it, I'd still be more than satisfied. After all, the latter half of the show was a striking exercise in divine harmonies, goofy monkey-spanking (Emmylou and Shawn Colvin used their squeaky toy monkeys during the chorus of Patty's perseverance-anthem "Mad Mission") and lots of down ditties. Still, that heartbreaking closing gem catapulted the Emmylou-Patty-Shawn show (with guitar great Buddy Miller) from a femme-powered meal into one complete with a delish dessert.  

 

Thanks For 'Brokeback,' Heath

Heath Ledger was on top. And soon his much-touted twisted Joker role in "The Dark Knight," the next "Batman" installment, was about to catapult him further into superstardom. But, even so, no role of his can compare to the unforgettable Ennis, the deeply-wounded gay cowboy in "Brokeback Mountain." With it, he pushed the envelope. Some said his career could've nose-dived. It didn't. But his life did. Today, Ledger was found dead in his Manhattan apartment. Indeed, to lose someone so talented, so young and so daring is devastating. All I have to say is: Thank you, Heath, for giving us a story we'll never forget.

For more on Heath Ledger's death, go here: http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2008-01-22-heath-ledger-obit_N.htm

Mariah is 'That Chick'

So rumor has it Mariah Carey's follow-up to blockbuster "The Emancipation of Mimi" will be called "That Chick." Not much info is out on the album (except for a few album tracks like torch-song "Bye Bye" and uptempo "Lovin' You Long Time"), but the first still-untitled single is due late this month, and the album is slated for an April release. Here's the latest (half-naked!) Mimi photo circulating the Web. 

Cloud Nine (Thousand)

That's where I was – at least from the look of this photo – after getting to ask Mary J. Blige how she shakes it in those high-heeled boots, and what it was like being The Advocate's cover-girl (look for her answers in Between The Lines this week). Friends say I look a little high, a little star-struck, a little like "OMG, that's Mary J. Blige breathing on me!" What do you think my face is saying?

Mary J. to Work What She's Got in Detroit

Who thinks of someone like Mariah as a go-to fashion icon – besides a rainbow-butterfly-glitter-obsessed pre-pubescent teenage girl? Not me. Any classy chick might take a hint from Mary J. Blige, though, who almost always assures her boobs have a home and who'll perform this Saturday at the GM Style event, an invitation-only preview to the auto show. GM couldn't have made a better choice. And this clip from CNN below, of her singing orgasm-cajoling "Come to Me (Peace)" off her latest record (next single, yeah? please!), is just another single piece of evidence that Mary's better-with-age voice (which makes me wanna call Mary up and tell her, "I feel ya, girl") is sure to rev-up this car party. Look for coverage on Friday's GM fashion preview (see ya there, Mary!), which will feature A-list designers along with MJB and Maroon 5 (Adam Levine could model the undies. Just an idea.), who'll strut their stuff in some newfangled get-ups, in Between The Lines' Jan. 17 issue. For now, enjoy Mary belting – and working those ginormous hoops. And tell me: Which Mary J. song makes you move, or moves you, or soothes you? Hey, that rhymes!

Ah, and here's another. This Elton John cover just makes me wanna
get in the fetal position. Brandy feels my pain.

Best Beats of '07

I have a headache. You see, from the umpteen CDs my ears have digested this year, I could only pick 10 that were super-duper sonic successes. T-E-N. That’s like selecting the top-10 best meals you ate this year (which would be easier if you were Nicole Richie). Alas, I sucked it up (mostly ’cause it’s my job), replaying even crapola – just for you! – until my eardrums begged for a vacay. From uber-big releases or under-the-radar records like my No. 1 selection, I traipsed through some real trash (Kelly Clarkson. Ugh!), but found some true masterpieces buried in between.

10. Amy Winehouse, ‘Back to Black’

She says “no, no, no” to AA, and I say “yes, yes, yes” to this boozy Brit’s stellar sophomore set, which oozes a retro vibe, recalling ’60s Motown girl groups. Not one to hide her much-publicized liquor habit, Winehouse made headlines equally for her fruitful music and her drinking shenanigans. But who’s complaining? Without it, we could forget getting the infectiously stubborn “Rehab.” And that’d be – as Winehouse would say – a bunch of fuckery.

iPod it: “Rehab,” “Tears Dry on Their Own,” “You Know I’m No Good”

9. Alicia Keys, ‘As I Am’
She calls herself a superwoman, and if that nickname entails super-musician, too, then she’s accurate. On soaring “No One” – o

ne of the best singles of the year – Keys’ throaty, emotive voice sails over a hard-hitting drumbeat, punctuated by a sing-a-long “ooh” section. The lively “Teenage Love Affair” follows, along with an ultra-personal pair of goose bump-raising Hallmark moments on “Like You’ll Never See Me Again” and “Tell You Something (Nana’s Reprise).”
iPod it: “No One,” “Tell You Something (Nana’s Reprise),” “Superwoman”

8. Rihanna, ‘Good Girl Gone Bad’
Girl can’t sing like Beyoncé. But – sure! – even on a sunny day, I’d stand under her “Umbrella,” a hella-catchy sing-along set to an electro beat, chanting “ ’ella! ’ella! ’ella!” The ubiquitous single launches a trio of flavorful dance grooves, like the sensually-snappy jam “Don’t Stop the Music.” Pink-ish double-entendre-laced “Shut Up and Drive” rocks, and even the DNA of mid-tempos like Ne-Yo-paired “Hate That I Love You” bring beaming beats.
iPod it: “Umbrella,” “Don’t Stop the Music,” “Shut Up and Drive”

7. Various artists, ‘Hairspray’
Nothing’s impossible: That’s a bunch of BS. Try standing still while listening to “You Can’t Stop the Beat,” an all-star tolerance anthem. Or nearly any other peppy, sugar-heavy song from the movie soundtrack to “Hairspray,” a musical menagerie of rambunctious, rad dance ditties and slower, more soulful songs.
iPod it: “You Can’t Stop the Beat,” “Welcome to the ’60s,” “Good Morning Baltimore”

6. Tegan and Sara, ‘The Con’
Traces of Tegan and Sara Quin’s poppier predecessors pop up, but this queer Canadian duo wallows in more-cryptic, more-mature sonic sizzlers. “Nineteen” and “The Con” are wholly obsessive – the kind of angsty, hook-laced vent-alongs that kick ass, without selling out to mainstream girl-power rock. This is serious lesbian stuff: relationships, relationships, relationships. Just not the way umpteen other chicks have griped ’bout them.
iPod it: “The Con,” “Nineteen,” “Call it Off”

5. The Arcade Fire, ‘Neon Bible’
Church never sounded so damn good. Not “Praise Jesus!”-kinda shtick, but a different sorta divine “Intervention” – a swirl of horns, guitar, drums and the church organ. The Canadian septet’s walloping, whimsical numbers are meditative pieces of spiritually – marked by a body-numbing intensity. It’s enough to bring anyone to their knees.
iPod it: “Windowsill,” “Intervention,” “No Cars Go”

To see the rest of the list, visit www.pridesource.com or pick up an issue of Between The Lines on Jan. 10.

YouTube-ing ... Again

I confess: I spend my work lunches and breaks in my dinky office. Watching YouTube videos. Over and over again. This one of Patty Griffin – who'll grace Ann Arbor, likely making even the manliest of men bawl, on Jan. 26 as part of the The Ark's Folk Festival (can't wait!) – is a li'l nugget I found that just makes me wanna wrap everyone I know in my arms. Yep, even you.

Let me know what you've been YouTube-ing lately...

Best Films of '07

Nothing like knocked-up chicks, a real-life princess, a drag queen and a foodie rat to get someone through 2007. Those zestful personas were the meat and potatoes of a pretty tasty box-office year. Even though some dumb disappointments scored big bucks ("I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry"), namely the indies - like rom-com "Juno" and modern-musical "Once" - scored with the critics. Like yours truly.

5. Knocked Up
Something is big in this love-child comedy from perverted director Judd Apatow ("40 Year Old Virgin"). And it isn't just Katherine Heigl's belly. It's those king-sized laughs, earned from zingers like: "It's doggie style. It's just the style. We don't have to go outside or anything." With class-A players (newcomer Seth Rogen! SNL's "Penelope" Kristen Wiig! Hottie Paul Rudd!), Apatow's morally-ambivalent film finds an optimal balance of raunch and chicken-soup moments.

4. Once
Told through some low-fi indie tunes, this small-scale mellifluous gem is an atypical-musical masterpiece. Writer-director John Carney's simple tale centers on two folks, a street musician (real-life singer-songwriter Glen Hansard) and a woman swooned by his music who urges him to record his tunes. There's nothing that particularly screams hit: Two people, some instruments, and a mess of alluring tunes. But with its realistic reflections on music and relationships, this nostalgic Irish-indie film brilliantly scores the beat between two souls.

3. Enchanted
Once upon a time, Walt Disney thought up something so good, so magical and so charming. Its name: "Enchanted," a mostly live-action charmer about a blissfully-ignorant princess who's forced into the happily-ever-after-less New York City. With a CG-created chipmunk and a brain-dead prince (the yummy James Marsden), giddy Giselle (a super-duper dazzling Amy Adams) tries to ward off a wicked witch to return to her Happy-Go-Lucky Land. Adams glows in this live action-animated hybrid, a cleverly-scripted romp that sizzles with wit, romance and hella-pleasing Disney parodies.

2. Atonement
Simply breathtaking in every sense of the word - luscious cinematography, first-rate performances and a dashing musical score - "Atonement" is a masterful, epic love story. The decade-spanning screen adaptation of Ian McEwan's novel begins in 1935 and gradually, and gracefully, builds to a bittersweet finale that hits like a natural disaster - both hard and without much warning - resulting from a young girl's selfish lie. A serious weeper, the seven-time Golden Globe nominee, much like "Titanic," isn't easily forgettable.

1. Hairspray
Nothing can top this bubbly dance-off piled high with hardy-har-har gags, fab bouffants and a dress-donning John Travolta. As more-femme Edna Turnblad, Travolta shakes his badonkadonk in '60s Baltimore, where chubby daughter Tracy (the smashing Nikki Blonsky) scores a stint on a local shimmy show and becomes a bona fide household name. With dazzling musical numbers, an all-star cast and an accept-everyone motif, this rambunctious feel-good flick isn't one bit sticky. It just shines.

To see selections 6-10, visit www.pridesource.com.

What were your favorite flicks of '07? Did "Hairspray" make you wanna shimmy and shake? Was "Atonement" the best epic love story since "Titanic"? Let me know ....