Review: Actors keep ‘Music' in tune

Review: Actors keep ‘Music' in tune

If Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore don't burn down the house with any sparks they set off in "Music and Lyrics,” their valentine to moviegoers, they at least make it amusingly watchable.

It's about songwriting, has-been pop stars, the Britney-Christina-Shakira belly dancers of girl pop and not much else. Any romantic or personality "issues” it reaches for, it never quite grasps.

But if you get any pleasure from watching two of the best romantic comedy actors of the past 20 years do their thing and give their all, then this is the date movie for you.

Go if for no other reason than you may never have the chance to see either of them sing again.

In a spot-on and hilarious opening, we see an '80s British pop band in the Spandau Ballet/Wham! mold bounce through a video of their tune "You Are Silver, I Am Gold” They were called PoP. And Alex (Grant) used to be their keyboardist, composer and rump-shaking backup sex symbol.

The band broke up. The lead singer's a huge Hollywood star. Alex is stuck doing county fairs, amusement parks and high school reunions, singing and shimmying in front of shrieking 40-somethings. He's being recruited for "'80s Has Been” boxing matches.

Then, his manager (Brad Garrett) wins him a second chance. The pop star of the moment, Cora (Haley Bennett, play-acting at being dim and inexpressive, we hope), was a fan as a toddler. She wants Alex to write her a new break-up-with-my-beau tune, with this title, "Working Our Way Back to Love.”

By Friday. Big problem.

Bigger problem: He doesn't do lyrics.

He tries out a professional lyricist, and they don't click. But Sophie (Barrymore), who comes in to tend to his plants, is a lyricist savant.

Alex needs her help. She's reluctant, but Alex wins Sophie over, and they get down to it, him noodling at the keyboard (Grant really plays) and her nervously clicking her pen.

"We're not writing the Jupiter Symphony here,” he said. "It's a song for someone whose last hit was ‘Welcome to Booty-town.'”

The movie's sense of late '80s pop is almost as accurate as its feel for early '80s romantic comedies. This is 1982's "Best Friends” without enough gags to sustain it, a comedy built on the pre-"Four Weddings and a Funeral” business model.

Sandra Bullock tied her career to writer-director Marc Lawrence until that sad little nothing "Two Weeks Notice,” and she wisely palmed him off on Grant, who deserves better. Still, this is no "American Dreamz.” Grant is as charming as ever, and he hurls himself into the part. Singing, hip-shaking and tossing off the quips, he's almost the Hugh of old.

Barrymore, playing yet another lovelorn waif, does something she wouldn't do even when Woody Allen asked her to in "Everyone Says I Love You.” She sings, and you've got to appreciate the guts of an actor willing to sing, dance and willing to say, even in character, "I'm a happy has-been.”

— Roger Moore, The Orlando (Fla.) Sentinel
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services

CD reviews: Isobel Campbell, Lily Allen, Backyard Tire Fire

CD reviews: Isobel Campbell, Lily Allen, Backyard Tire Fire

Oklahoman.com

Folk

Isobel Campbell "Milk White Sheets” (V2)

In the five years since Isobel Campbell left the Scottish twee-pop band Belle & Sebastian, the singer has steadily moved into challenging territory, surrounding her breathy vocals with the jazz motifs of 2003's "Amorino” and juxtaposing her sweet voice with Mark Lanegan's deep, dark rasp on last year's "Ballad of the Broken Seas.” For her new collection, "Milk White Sheets,” Campbell turns her attention to '60s British folk, exploring the styles popularized by forebears Anne Briggs and Shirley Collins.

While Campbell's voice is far more ethereal than either of those folk legends, she delves into the same haunting Celtic style. Campbell essays several lilting traditional songs such as "O Love is Teasin',” "Reynardine” and the Scottish favorite "Hori Horo,” but then her original compositions, including "Cachel Wood” and the gorgeously spare "Beggar, Wiseman or Thief,” stand shoulder-to-shoulder with these timeless traditionals.

Perhaps the most familiar of the covers is "Willow's Song,” the dramatic seduction song Britt Eklund sang au naturel in the 1973 cult classic "The Wicker Man.” While this song is frequently covered — Sneaker Pimps and Doves both did versions — Campbell's captures the beauty of the original best of all. "Milk White Sheets” is proof of Campbell's evolution as an artist and is a beautiful tribute to the pioneering women of modern Celtic folk.

— George Lang

Pop

Lily Allen "Alright, Still” (Capitol)

Lily Allen took her time bringing her wry, ska-inflected songs to the United States, letting stateside label Capitol dribble out a few tracks before "Alright, Still” finally hit these shores, but the 21-year-old singer's full-length debut was worth the wait and the piecemeal downloading sessions. This is pop for people who claim to hate pop, a collection of cheeky jabs and kiss-offs that deliver hooks and laughs in equal doses.

The first two singles, "Smile” and "LDN,” establish Allen's modus operandi — the singer seduces with sunny pop and then slams her subjects (an ex-boyfriend and London, respectively) with caustic, bilious humor. This is what "Jagged Little Pill” would have been if Alanis Morissette had the snide wit to match her anger. Allen clearly has the pop sensibility that can make all the bitterness go down like honey: "Not Big” and "Nan, You're a Window Shopper” are perfectly monstrous takedowns, but Allen juxtaposes her rancor with perfect-pop sweetness.

"Alright, Still” is not quite perfect — "Take What You Take” is a drab string of cliches set to a "Madchester” beat on a track that isn't even worthy of Natasha Bedingfield. But for the balance of the disc, Allen is top of the pops, especially "Alfie,” a bouncy ode to a lazy little brother that should be her next hit. With "Alright, Still,” Allen emerges as a pop princess of disaffected music fans' dreams.

— George Lang

Alternative

Backyard Tire Fire "Vagabonds and Hooligans” (O.I.E. Records)

Front man Ed Anderson already had me at the eerily wistful acoustic guitar and rusty violin intro to "Vagabonds and Hooligans,” but when he sang of "Instruments and cable ties and bottles on the floor / The voice of Wayne Coyne bringing back the dead,” I felt like I was kicking back in the den with an old friend.

References to Oklahoma City's fearless Flaming Lips leader aside, Anderson's Bloomington, Ill., three-piece makes mostly engaging, rootsy indie rock throughout its third full-length album, from the springy twang of "Undecided,” which sounds uncannily like Jeff Tweedy and Wilco in a rare sunny mood, to the ramshackle guitar chime of "Green Eyed Soul,” which reveals influences both vintage (early Neil Young and Crazy Horse) and modern (Jay Farrar/Son Volt).

"Apparitions” haunts with its ghostly slide guitar lines drifting above Anderson's mournful lyrical portrait of a lost young man "clinging to the asphalt stoned and scared,” the slow-burning, country-rocking, anti-war mantra "Get Wise” will set blood to boiling on the right and the left, and the spare piano, organ and muted feedback on "A Long Time” enhances a painfully beautiful observation on rock-bottom world-weariness. You're liable to pay frequent return visits to "Vagabonds and Hooligans” and always feel right at home.

— Gene Triplett

Local Band Q&A: Fist of Five

Local Band Q&A: Fist of Five

oklahoman.com



•Why: Fist of Five (John Gates, DJ Windle, Steve Jones, James Cyrus and Josh Anderson) is making things happen and priming itself for the national stage. The band's high-intensity rock show is full of passion and emotional power.

•When: 8 p.m. Saturday.

•Where: Bricktown Ballroom, 103 E California.

Q:How did working with producer Mike Fraser (AC/DC, Aerosmith, Metallica, Hinder) come about?

A:DJ Windle , singer/guitarist: I'll tell you what, making contacts is hard, and it is a lot of hours doing research, just calling around and making friends. It's a big world, and it's very hard to get anyone on board, especially someone with Mike's credentials. The funny thing was, he came to us. He had a mutual friend who enjoyed our music, and he e-mailed me and expressed interest in working with us, so here we are.

A:John Gates, lead vocals: He believes, and we all do, that we can do this, so he found someone who can get us where we need. It takes a lot of hard work to find just one person who believes, but it looks like we did.

Q:So you'll be recording in Dallas at Gary Long's (Mercyful Fate, Burden Brothers) Nomad Studios as opposed to going to Fraser's studio in Vancouver (British Columbia). How did Long come into the picture?

A:Windle: He was around for our last album and was pretty impressed. I kept in touch with him through all this time, and when we talked about a new album, he basically expressed that he would like to be in on it. So we got a major hookup. Mike Fraser is coming down to do the album, but we're getting the studio for free down in Dallas.

Q:John, you've been known to wear a mask onstage that covered half of your face. You've recently decided to lose the mask for good. What brought that change about? How have fans reacted to that announcement?

A:Gates: Well, it boils down to the fact that a mask covers who you are, and I want to be able to show people who I am. We are the music, not a mask. Here I am a man in a mask, writing about how people need to face their fear, but I'm wearing a mask. I just decided to practice what I preach.

Q:You will finally be playing your rescheduled Battle of the Bands show date this Saturday. Has the wait to do this show built the anticipation for you and your local fan base to a great extent? Is this the first local show since you dropped the mask for good?

A:Gates: This will definitely be the first, and I would say absolutely to the first question. Fist of Five's home is Oklahoma, and it always will be. We have been all over the Midwest region, but the fans we have in Oklahoma are who got us going.

A:Windle: It definitely is a great scene, and there are a lot of great bands. But I'll tell you one thing. This music scene really wouldn't be anything without people like Medman up at Q102 in Woodward and Steve Van Halen at the KATT. Those guys support local music like none other, and we will be in contact with those guys until the end.

— Michael Senior

Hurricane Mason show review from Bridget!

Donnie and I made a point to run out to The Red Dog Saturday night to check in on our friend Hurricane (Matt) Mason... In the short time we were there it was apparent that nothing had changed, the band was as tight as ever. Matt's vocals are Strong, the band is right on and the 3 covers we heard were played well, with just enough of the bands own style interjected in to keep things interesting. I know I say covers, and they do allot of them, but don't think this is just a cover band. The Hurricane has plenty of their own original Rock and has released several well received projects over the years.

Make sure that you hit the Red Dog up next time they are in Bartlesville for a great Rock show...

Bridget