‘Summer ‘04′ DVD review (Detroit Metro Times)

Think of the worst summer vacation you ever had. Even if it went beyond National Lampoon’s Vacation awfulness, it’s still unlikely that it was bad as the holiday the grumpy 15-year-old boy in Summer ‘04 had. Not only does he have to deal with the realization that his 13-year-old girlfriend is kind of a slut, but also that the older man she falls for ends up shtupping the boy’s mom. Yeah, that’s pretty bad, right? This German film dives gleefully into its mission of discomforting morality-smashing, summed up beautifully when Dad mutters, “Who are we to judge?” The creepy, sexualized teenagers are only the beginning of the spine-chilling weirdness at play here, as director Stefan Krohmer plunges mom Miriam (played to disaffected perfection by Martina Gedeck) into a traumatic bit of adultery that has her ping-ponging between maternal responsibility, wifely devotion and Teutonically hot sex. Krohmer — just like his near-namesake Eric Rohmer — has produced a morality play with decidedly vague morals. The director infuses all of Miriam’s relationships with a sublime balance of sweetness, romance and loyalty, so the viewer winds up as torn as she is when it comes to deciding exactly what the right thing to do is. While the tension builds up within the family unit, poor 15-year-old Nils’ vacation just keeps getting worse and worse, but hey, who are we to judge?

First appeared July 31, 2008 in Detroit Metro Times.

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David Bowie: Live – Santa Monica ‘72 CD review (Broward-Palm Beach New Times)

It’s nearly laughable that this album is being marketed as “previously unreleased.” Bowie’s 1972 show at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium is perhaps one of the most-bootlegged concerts of the rock era, seen by most fans as the ultimate statement of what Bowie offered live in the ’70s. Broadcast on the radio, there was no chance for Bowie (or his label) to second-guess the performance, and therefore this concert has long overshadowed official releases like the sterile Stage (1978 ) and the stilted performance quality of 1974’s David Live. Bootlegs aside, the album got an official (or at least semi-official) release in the ’90s, thanks to the shady machinations of Bowie’s former management company. So “previously unreleased” must just mean that this is the first time Bowie’s been able to cash in on the show since the tickets were ripped. Regardless of its rarity or lack thereof, Santa Monica ‘72 is justifiably legendary and should stand as the gold standard for live recordings. Very few major rock acts have successfully captured their stage presence on disc, and Bowie — given the highly theatrical nature of this Ziggy Stardust tour — had a higher bar than most. Still, what’s often overlooked about this era of Bowie performance is that it was a positively electric brand of bracing rock ‘n’ roll he delivered. The Spiders From Mars are in full gear here, easily enlivening tracks like “Andy Warhol” and “Life on Mars” to a level that energizes the first half of the set. By the time the show winds up with a barreling run-through of “The Jean Genie,” “Suffragette City,” and “Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide,” Bowie and the Spiders are on a tear, dishing up vibrant and full-bodied rock that needs no costume — or second guesses — to validate it.

First appeared July 31, 2008 in Broward-Palm Beach New Times.

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Return to Forever show preview (Orlando Weekly)

Of all the groups that sprung to life from the fevered loins of Miles Davis’ 1970s fusion experiments – from the grinding prog rock of Tony Williams’ Lifetime to Herbie Hancock’s Headhunters – Return to Forever was the wonkiest. This titanic collision of hyper-proficient players produced overly complex tunes that tried gamely to be both funky and propulsive, but often sounded like music-school experiments. This reunion tour brings together the so-called classic lineup of Chick Corea, Al Di Meola, Stanley Clarke and Lenny White, but Corea’s trademark angularity chisels away any of the fluidity one would expect from White, while enabling Di Meola and Clarke to engage in the worst kind of notes-per-second gamesmanship. Now that these guys are all old men … sorry, respected elders, it’s more than likely that this reunion tour will evince even more of those tendencies.

First appeared July 31, 2008 in Orlando Weekly.