Monday, February 09, 2015

The Crusaders - Street Life

Back when I was a kind, my musical tastes were strangely much more diverse than now. One of the albums that I heard a million times over (I'm thinking I was 13?) was the Crusaders' Street Life. The Crusaders were a light soul/jazz/R&B fusion band who apparently have been around in some fashion or other since the early 1950s but they really hit it big in the 1970s when jazz fusion as a category made some big money. Their biggest hit was Street Life (1979) which featured guest singer Randy Crawford, who had (maybe still has) a fantastic R&B/jazz voice.

I don't know what it was about that album that I loved so much. Soon of course, I got all self-conscious and began to listen to soulless grown up music, but after so many years, I just got the album, and sure enough, the title track still for some reason reminded me of being 13. It's light, it's ebullient, it's not deep, but it somehow still packs a punch. Here is the 11 minute version:

Monday, February 02, 2015

Favorite Movies of 2014


13. The Trip To Italy (Dir.: Michael Winterbottom)
12. Big Hero 6 (Dir.: Don Hall & Chris Williams)
11. Live Die Repeat: Edge Of Tomorrow (Dir.: Doug Liman)
10. Lucy (Dir.: Luc Besson)
9. Birdman (Dir.: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu)
8. Guardians Of The Galaxy (Dir.: James Gunn)
7. Gone Girl (Dir.: David Fincher)
6. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (Dir.: Joe & Anthony Russo)
5. The LEGO Movie (Dir.: Phil Lord & Chris McKay)
4. X-Men: Days Of Future Past (Dir.: Bryan Singer)

3. Snowpiercer (Dir.: Joon-ho Bong)


2. We Are The Best! (Dir.: Lukas Moodysson)


1. Under The Skin (Dir.: Jonathan Glazer)