audiophile
by david stout
david@goqnotes.com
Speaking of George Michael...
At press time, pop icon George Michael is hospitalized in
Vienna, Austria, recovering from a severe bout of pneumonia.
The openly gay star was in the country to perform a show on
his successful Symphonica Tour when he fell ill. Things seemed
pretty dire for the first few days; Michael was listed in critical
condition and rumors about his worsening health were swirl
ing. However, the latest official news states that he is out of the
ICU and getting better.
Thank goodness for that. Michael is one of my favorite
artists, with one of the finest voices ever in popular music.
Driving home from Thanksgiving, I put on his two-disc "Live In
London" concert DVD and marveled at his impeccable vocals
the whole way.
Like all of us, George has his devils to wrestle; unlike most
of us, though, he has battled his in the glaring public spotlight. If
you're young enough to only know George for his addiction-fu
eled public screw-ups or are an older fan who hopped off the
train after one debacle or another, I highly recommend picking
up "Live In London" to learn/remember what a pop treasure
George Michael truly has been, is today and hopefully will
continue to be for a long time to come.
Speaking of concert DVDs...
Adele and Lady Gaga, arguably the two most powerful
women in music at the moment, have released
must-have live DVDs in recent weeks.
2011 has been an incredible year for Adele.
At the beginning of the year she scored a
mammoth#! hit with "Rolling In The Deep,"
which propelled her sophomore album to the
top of the charts for a record-setting 12 weeks.
That's the longest run ever for a British female
artist and ties the overall record set by.. .wait
for it.. .George Michael (for 1988's "Faith").
Second single "Someone Like You" was another multi-week#!,
cementing Adele's status as the artist of 2011.
Her new "Live At The Royal Albert Hall" (out on DVD and
Blu-Ray) features a 90-minute performance of material culled
from both of Adele's studio albums, behind the scenes footage
shot the day of the show and a bonus live CD. Viewers will find
the newly minted star in stunning, full-throated voice delivering
all of her best loved songs and two covers, including Bonnie
Raid's "I Can't Make You Love Me."
Lady Gaga has issued her Emmy-winning HBO special
"Lady Gaga Presents The Monster Ball Tour At Madison
Square Garden" for the home market. She offers up 19 songs
encompassing all the hits from "The Fame" and "The Fame
Monster" albums as well as the smash singles "Born This
Way" and "You And I" from her latest collection.
In less than three years Gaga has sold an estimated 23 mil
lion albums and 64 million singles worldwide. The four singles
from her last album alone have sold a combined 6 million in the
U.S. B/7/board magazine named Gaga the 2010 Artist Of The Year
and she has garnered five Grammy Awards on 12 nominations.
Speaking of the Grammys...
The nominations for the 54th Annual Grammy Awards have
been released and here are the finalists in the Big 4 categories
plus three more. The Grammys will be broadcast live Feb. 12 at
8pm on CBS.
Album Of The Year: "21" — Adele; "Wasting Light" — Foo
Fighters; "Born This Way" — Lady Gaga; "Doo-Wops &
Hooligans" — Bruno Mars; "Loud" — Rihanna
Record Of The Year: "Rolling In The Deep" — Adele;
"Holocene" — Bon Iver; "Grenade" — Bruno Mars; "The
Cave" — Mumford & Sons; "Firework" — Katy Perry
Best New Artist: The Band Perry; Bon Iver; J. Cole; Nicki Minaj;
Skrillex
Song Of The Year: "All Of The Lights" — Jeff Bhasker, Malik
Jones, Warren Trotter & Kanye West, songwriters (Kanye
West, Rihanna, Kid Cudi & Fergie); "The Cave" — Ted Dwane,
Ben Lovett, Marcus Mumford & Country Winston, songwriters
(Mumford & Sons); "Grenade" — Brody Brown, Claude Kelly,
Philip Lawrence, Ari Levine, Bruno Mars & Andrew Wyatt,
songwriters (Bruno Mars); "Holocene" — Justin Vernon, song
writer (Bon Iver); "Rolling In The Deep" — Adele Adkins & Paul
Epworth, songwriters (Adele)
Best Pop Solo Performance: "Someone Like You" — Adele;
"Yoii And I" — Lady Gaga; "Grenade" — Bruno Mars;
"Firework" — Katy Perry; "F*^*in' Perfect" — Pink
Best Pop Duo/Group Performance: "Body And Soul" — Tony
Bennett & Amy Winehouse; "Dearest" — The Black Keys;
"Paradise" — Coldplay; "Pumped Up Kicks" — Foster The
People; "Moves Like dagger" — Maroon 5 & Christina Aguilera
Best Dance Recording: "Raise Your Weapon" — DeadmauS
& Greta Svabo Bech; "Barbra Streisand" — Duck Sauce;
"Sunshine" — David Guetta & Avicii; "Call Your Girlfriend"
— Robyn; "Scary Monsters And Nice Sprites" — Skrillex;
"Save The World" — Swedish House Mafia::
info: audiophile@goqnotes.com
out in print
by terri schlichenmeyer :: qnotes contributor
'Remembering Christmas'
j
It happens every year.
Rrst, you start seeing Christmas decora
tions. Then you notice yourself mouthing the
words to songs while you're shopping and
you start to get nostalgic, missing family and
remembering this gift and that dinner and
holidays through rose-colored glasses.
It's ho-ho-horrible, almost as if you're
homesick for something you never had.
Seriously, who ever had a "perfect holiday,"
anyhow? In the new book "Remembering
Christmas," featuring three novellas by tiiree
premier authors, the only things perfect are the
ghosts of Christmases past
Its funny how we remember special things
we got for Christmas at the same time we
remember things we didn't get In "Away, in
a Manger" by Tom Medicino, middle-aged
James is empty-handed and empty-hearted.
life as a gay man in New York was good
once. There was always another party, another
summer in Rre Island and anotiiertrip with
Ernst James' lover and mentor.
But times change: Ernst is now an old man
with fusty habits, the summer house is a tired
tradition that needs to be retired and James
wants.. .something. Then, on his way to spend
Christmas with his family, car trouble strands
James in a tiny town where his future is hiding,
covered in snow.
Remember wishing for that one special
thing to show up benealti the tree? No matter
how old you are, it's hard not to have a specific
gift in mind when you see piles of gifts and in
"A Christmas to Remember" by Frank Anthony
Polito, all Jack Paterno wants is a boyfriend.
Specifically, Jack wants Kirk, his old pal
from high school. There's so much history
between them, so many mutual friends and
boyhood memories in common. But even
though Jack is pretty sure Kirk's gay, Kirk isn't
so sure himself...
And, sometimes, especially if Christmas
loses ite magic, lost love feels keener. When
Neil broke up with Theo just before tfie holi
days, Theo decided that he might as well do
what he said he'd never do and go home for
Christmas. But in "Missed Connections" by
Michael Salvatore, a chance encounter with an
old love becomes an odd gift.
Though my motiier always told me not to
judge a book by its cover, I have to admit that
I did. The cover of this book looked like it was
going to be fun.
I should've listened to Mom.
"Remembering Christmas" is awfully dark-
mooded. It pouts and mutters, feels sorry for
itself, gete morosely introspective and wallows
in pity for pages and pages and pages. There
are occasional bursts of good tidings and great
joy, but the melancholy and angst overpowers
it I think I could have handled that in one story,
but the similar theme of all three tales made me
want to drown my sorrows in spiked egg nog.
I think that if you're single, hating it and
want some paper commiseration, then this
book will be good company this season. But
if you're looking for a holiday book that makes
you feel all Christmassy, this one is a perfect
disaster.;:
info:
"Remembering
Christmas"
by Tom Medicino,
Frank Anthony Polito
and Michael Salvatore
©2011, Kensington
$15.00/$16.95 Canada,
250pages
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12 qnotes Dec. 10-23.2011