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Review of Black Market by Weather Report

Weather Report was a jazz fusion band that started in 1970. The album I am reviewing, Black Market was released in 1976. The album was produced by Joe Zawinul and Wayne Shorter. I think it had something to do with my environment, and the albums I have reviewed before, but this is the first album that actively irritated me. The ballads and the slower moments in general made me want to fall to sleep. Some of the tracks went on too long. This is not to say there is no good music on this album. There is. It simply needed streamlining and a stronger sense of energy behind it. The starting track off of this album is good. There is a generally sunny groove at the beginning of this album. It is lead of by the fretless bass of Jaco Pastorius, the machine-gun delivery of his notes later on in the track are also noteworthy. The warm analog keys and synths of Zawinul are also strong and pleasant in this album overall. Another unique aspect of this track is the odd meter groove that happens

Review of Laser Mission

If you are willing to go into a movie called Laser Mission knowing no lasers will be fired during the movie, Laser Mission is an okay movie. Maybe I am biased because I like low budget action films. Maybe I'm biased because there are worse films with worse acting (Samurai Cop anyone?). This movie has some cheesy acting, some ludicrous action, some cliched plot twists, and bad accents but it is an alright movie to get your buddies together and have a fun time . (spoiler warning ahead) The plot of Laser Mission is that the African Hope Diamond has been stolen by the Soviets who are in Africa. They are after a scientist played by Ernst Borgnine. (big spoiler ahead). It is revealed that that diamond if touched by a laser will trigger a nuclear weapon (how is anyone's guess). The CIA hires a mercenary played by Brandon Lee to stop the soviets and their mercenaries. The soviets capture Borgnine and it is the job of Lee's character to rescue Borgnine and get the crystal from

Crazy Rhythms by The Feelies

This is my first album review. This will be an older album. Crazy Rhythms by The Feelies was released April 1st, 1980. I read out of a chapter of (for what it's worth, self-published) cultural historian Piero Scaruffi's A History of Rock and Dance Music Volume 1 while listening to this album. If I hadn't read this book, I might not have found this album at all. He connects this band to a group of writers and musicians that were part of an artistic movement called the Blank Generation (think of this as being similar in some ways to the lost generation of the 20s). Technology was changing in what was becoming post-industrial society in such a way as to alienate the then emergent post-industrial blue collar worker. They were cut off from the factory jobs that sustained them, by economic circumstances. It was also changing how long the human (usually the wealthier human) could could now live past what Scaruffi calls the "natural limit". Scaruffi is also someone w

Dayglo Daydreams

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