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My Kind Of Christmas - Christina Aguilera
by AbsintheFairy
My Kind of Christmas was released by American singer Christina Aguilera in 2006 when she was at the peak of her career. As a fan of both Christina and Christmas music, I knew I would have to get this CD, which contains a mixture of classic and modern Christmas songs.
The songs on the album have a mid-2000s, RnB feel to them, ... particularly the more modern tracks. Christmas Time and This Year are funky, sexy songs which almost wouldn't be Christmassy at all if it wasn't for the lyrics. Xtina's Xmas is a similar-styled interlude. Merry Christmas, Baby has a more traditional feel to it, with a slower beat and a jazz-style backing. Christina's vocals really suit this style of music, reflected in the album Back to Basics which she released at around the same time as this festive CD. These Are the Special Times is another pleasant track, while This Christmas is an album highlight, a pleasant, uplifting and melodic song about a special Christmas, complete with brass instruments and other festive sounds. The Christmas Song is a strong interpretation of the classic, again with Christina's trademark strong vocals and RnB backing. I am less keen on the remix, which closes the album, as it is a little too dance-y for me.
Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas is my favourite Christmas song of all time, and no one in my opinion sings it better than Judy Garland. Christina's version is, however, very good. Her powerful vocals are surprisingly restrained during the track and the instrumental backing is subtle and delicate. She does let her voice soar towards the end of the song, but it sounds genuine rather than fake.
It's unusual for pop stars to record carols as opposed to commercial Christmas songs, so a couple of tracks on this album sound quite different. Angels We Have Heard On High is a relaxed, guitar-backed version of the hymn with a gospel chorus and a modern beat. Oh Holy Night begins promisingly: Christina does have a strong, powerful voice which manages this difficult carol easily, and again the backing is gentle and entirely appropriate. Unfortunately, about halfway through the song the music gives way to a spoken recital of the Lord's Prayer which is rather cringe worthy in my opinion. The track ends with a repetition of the chorus backed by a gospel choir, but again this is spoilt when the song seems to turn into a light-hearted jazz session.
Apart from this disappointing moment, I like this album and would recommend it to lovers of Christmas music. The album has both classic and modern elements and Christina's superb voice is on fine form. It is currently available very cheaply online, so you can add to your Christmas collection for a bargain price!
Track Listing
1. Christmas Time
2. This Year
3. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
4. Angels We Have Heard On High
5. Merry Christmas, Baby
6. Oh Holy Night
7. These Are The Special Times
8. This Christmas
9. The Christmas Song
10. Xtina's Xmas (Interlude)
11. The Christmas Song (Holiday Remix)
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Elbow Beach - Louise Nurding
by compbren
'Elbow Beach' was the title of Louise (Redknapp/Nurding's) third album which was released in 2000. By this time Louise had firmly established herself onto the British pop scene and was no longer known as the girl who quit Eternal. 'Elbow Beach' was the follow-up to then 1997 'Woman In Me' which is easily her best album. It took three ... years for Louise to follow-up 'Woman In Me' and in those three years she had got married to Jamie Redknapp and decided to name the album after the place she got married.
'Elbow Beach' consists of 12 songs.
'Beautiful Inside' - A great pop track to open the album. The song is very of it's time now and quite dated but you can defintly see the appeal of releasing it back in 2000. The song entered at number 13 on the singles chart and was the second and (sadly) final single to be released on the album (3/5).
'First Kiss' (The Wedding Song) - Obviously, this is a love song dedicated to Jamie. It's very poppy, quite summery and instantly catchy. I believe this was touted for being released as a single at some point but unfortunatly never happened which is a shame because it's probably one of the best songs on the album and would have been quite a hit (5/5).
'2Faced' - This song was the first single to be released on the album and because Louise's most successful single of her career. It reached number 3 in the charts but at one point during the week was number 1. It's a shame it fell down the chart though as it would have been a well deserved number one. A great pop track (5/5).
'For Your Eyes Only' - A brilliant dance vibe to this song. Written by Betty Boo. Again another of the album highlights (4/5).
'Egyptian Queen' - Time for the albums first ballad. 'Cause I had a dream, I was an Egyptian Queen, walking down the Nile in serious style' sings Louise. Not bad for a ballad (4/5).
'The Best Thing' - This song feels like a filler to me, but I remember back in the day that a lot of the fans highlighted this song as one of their favourites so maybe it's just me. However, it's not a track I was really overly fond of back then and listening to it now makes me feel the same. The chorus is nice enough but compared to the previous tracks it's not as good (3/5).
'Bedtime' - A naughtly love song. Again, as i've mentioned, it's got that early 00's feel to it but it wouldn't be a hit if it was released these days. Still a generally decent album track (4/5).
'That's What Friends Are for' - Time for a slower vibe. This is a great song about friendship (obviously). Not really much I can say about it though (3/5).
'Take You There' - Another slowie. It has always felt that these clusters of songs all sound the same and that they tend to blend into each other. 'Take You There' is purely and album filler (2/5).
'City Boy Fix' - Finally, a song with a bit of life to it. City Boy Fix mixes pop with a bit of motown. Definatly one of the catchiest songs on the album (5/5).
'In Our Room' - Another album filler than sounds too similar to other tracks on the album (2/5).
'Lost' - Poor song to end the album with (2/5).
Overall:
It's not a bad album. 12 songs but 3 of them are just filler tracks which is a shame because her previous album had 16 tracks which were all killer and no filler. Still worth a buy if you are fond of early 00's pop!
Top 5 tracks:
1. 2Faced
2. City Boy Fix
3. First Kiss
4. For Your Eyes Only
5. Egyptian Queen
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My Name Is Khan
by B_Whiting
***Stats***
This movie is an Indian movie, and uses a grand total of three different languages Hindi, Urdu and English. The version I watched had English subtitles throughout making it very easy to follow, eventhough listening to English and reading English subtitles at the same time can come a little strange at first. The ... total runtime for the movie is approx 165 minutes, this does seem quite lengthy but I will mention this again later in my review. The movie is rated a 'PG' and stars Kajol as Mandira Khan and Shah Rukh Khan as Risvan Khan.
***Plot***(contains plot details)
The story is based around a man named Rizvan Khan, beginning when he was a young boy living with his family in Mumbai. Rizvan who had been diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome and who had major difficulties with communicating and socialising is also an extremely intelligent young man; shocking most of his community with his talents. We follow Rizvan learning life lessons from his mother, helping her and caring for her, to him becoming somewhat of a minor celebrity in his small community. His circumstances change dramatically; sending him on the start of his new journey to America. Once there, he begins working for his brother as a cosmetics sales representative. Whilst out and about around San Fransico he comes across the woman that was to change his life. Mandira, who is a Hindi woman, and a single mother, captures the attention of Rizvan. Much to the dismay of his brother, eventually leading Rizvan to become estranged from the only family he has left. He, again, begins to lead a new life, a romantic life with his new family, until disaster strikes on the fateful day 9/11. The plot then takes a devastating turn, telling the story of all the innocent people who fell victim of prejudice and racial abuse, which then leads to the murder of someone very dear to Rizvan and very close to his heart. Rizvan finds the strength to then go on his own mission to have his voice heard.
***My Thoughts***
Before this movie my knowledge of international cinema didn't move beyond 'Battle Royale'. However, since watching 'My Name Is Khan', I don't seem to be able to stop seeking out something that will make such an impact as this movie did. I was a little sceptical at first as this would not usually be my cup of tea. And after over a week of having this DVD, I finally decided to grab a cushion and settle in. I didn't know much about the content of the film itself but wanted to watch a movie that was different to the usual horror genre I love so much. I was not disappointed. After the first 30 minutes or so, I shed my first tear at the lovely tale being told, and I didn't stop crying for the rest of the movie. Before I knew it, I had been sat there for 2 and a half hours, it felt like the story had been told in 5 minutes. At no point did the movie drag or lose point, which considering the length is pretty impressive. It was fantastic and is really no surprise that in the first weekend of the movies release it brought in a massive $1,944,027 and grossed $42,345,360 worldwide. This movie has everything, from romance, to tragedy, managing to both make you laugh ad cry. I was very surprised at how this movie sent me away thinking, for the rest of the day and even the following day I was not able to take my mind from it. It was very powerful with a very strong message, and really does give another side to the devastating effects that 9/11 had on the world.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1188996/
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