August 3, 2008
Mirrorball
Grafted from McLachlan’s supremely satisfying 1998 performances, Mirrorball is drawn almost equally from the multiplatinum Surfacing and its superior predecessor, Fumbling Towards Ecstasy. (Included also is the lovely, hard-to-come-by “I Will Remember You.”) Live, a haunting ballad such as “Possession” becomes a fevered, aggressive bit of psychedelia. “Hold On” reveals new depths when performed behind the beat with morphing time signatures and driving piano. McLachlan’s warmly expressive voice is still at the epicenter of her performances. She roams through these 14 songs with agile ease, riding the rails between singing for dramatic arena effect–huskily growling, airily trilling–and knowing what to play down with her sensually controlled crooning (witness such gems as Fumbling’s title song and “Good Enough”). Overall, McLachlan’s vocals match the heavily percussive intensity of her band and the build of her backing vocalists, producing a more spacious sound than the precise pitch rendered on her studio recordings. –Paige La Grone
Atists:Â Sarah McLachlan
Audio CD:Â Live
Company: Arista (1999-06-15)
List Price:Â $16.97
Amazon Price:Â $5.47
Used Price:Â $1.29
More: continued here
For those who never thought Disney would release a film in which Santa Claus is kidnapped and tortured, well, here it is! The full title is Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas, which should give you an idea of the tone of this stop-action animated musical/fantasy/horror/comedy. It is based on characters created by Burton, the former Disney animator best known as the director of Pee-wee’s Big Adventure, Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, and the first two Batman movies. His benignly scary-funny sensibility dominates the story of Halloweentown resident Jack Skellington (voice by Danny Elfman, who also wrote the songs), who stumbles on a bizarre and fascinating alternative universe called … Christmastown! Directed by Henry Selick (who later made the delightful James and the Giant Peach), this PG-rated picture has a reassuringly light touch. As Roger Ebert noted in his review, “some of the Halloween creatures might be a tad scary for smaller children, but this is the kind of movie older kids will eat up; it has the kind of offbeat, subversive energy that tells them wonderful things are likely to happen.” –Jim Emerson
Imagine… …Batman and Robin are needed in the city fast and the only way they can get there in time is with one of Batmans amazing rides like the Batmobile! The Batmobile has spinning flames and claw on the front that will deploy when the button on the hood is pressedcapturing the villains! Whether by land or by air, these heroes can get to any crime scene fast!
