Music Review: Melanie Doane - A Thousand Nights

Special and lovingly crafted. This is how I would describe Melanie Doane's latest release.

I've been a fan of Doane's for awhile now ever since I had seen her open up for Great Big Sea on their Turn tour, and I thought she was terrific with a unique style and destined for stardom. So, it was no surprise that I had been patiently anticipating her new released once it was announced.

A Thousand Nights has a nice concept attached to it. Having recently had a child, Doane looked at having a record of songs that could be played to children without their parents getting tired of them quickly due to repeated listening, enduring "A Thousand Nights" of repeating listening if you will.

And Doane delivers, no pun intended, a beautiful album. The album is made up mostly of covers, but the choices are inspired, and the arrangements well done in her unique style, all very mellow. Melanie gives them fresh new takes, such as the beautiful version of Fleetwood Mac's Songbird, featuring Jim Cuddy of Blue Rodeo. It has to be heard to be believed. Among other beautiful gems are Leonard Cohen's Song of Bernadette, Tom Petty's Wildflowers, The Everly Brother's Devoted to You, Bruce Cockburn's All The Diamonds, Tom Waits' Martha, and Baby Makes Three, a very beautiful composition of her own.

This has become one of my favourite albums of the year. I highly recommend it.

www.melaniedoane.com

Music: Great Big Sea - Fortune's Favour

After having finally picked it up after waiting a few months, I've listened through it. Gotta say, meh. It's not that I'm disappointed, because it has a great production, and in terms of albums, I think this is probably their best since Turn.

Perhaps it's because I haven't seen them in concert in ages or something, but I'm having a hard time finding enthusiasm for this album. I'm finding there's a certain disconnect. I knew this album would be different, but I'd have expected at least a song or two to click, but at this stage, none have. And Walk on the Moon, which I thought sounded out of place when first hearing it as a single, continues to sound out of place on the album. Sounds more like a song that would have fit on Something Beautiful instead. I continue to have the opinion that it was the wrong song as a first single as it doesn't fit the style of production they had going for the entire album, which is a more "take it by the horns" approach. Maybe the songs will grow on me.

If there's one good thing about the album is that it sounds like the energy is back. The one complaint I had about Sea of No Cares and Something Beautiful, is that they were too perfect sounding, that all the energy had been sucked out of the songs. Not so here, and Alan tends to sound like a completely different animal, no pun intended.

Overall, I'm not overly impressed. Though, perhaps it will grow on me. With each new GBS album though, I tend to feel as though GBS isn't for me anymore. Maybe they will be for you. Ironically, this is probably the album that will finally net them a Juno award.


www.greatbigsea.com

Movie Review: Get Smart

Get Smart is fun, engaging, and best of all, a good tribute to the classic TV series.

When I had originally heard about this project many years ago, I had trouble believing that they would actually produce something significant. Steve Carrell had been rumoured to be in the role, and that he had really wanted to play Maxwell Smart, as a fan of the original TV series.

Then, they were going ahead with it after so many years in limbo. I was filled with anxiety. Could they really do it justice? Then, the trailer came out, and the familiar theme was played, complete with the phone booth. It was like a trip back in time. Still, I had my doubts. I didn't think they could really make a good movie out of it like so many TV to Movie franchises that have failed.

But then, this is Mel Brooks we're talking about. He brought us classics such as Blazing Saddles, Spaceballs, Robin Hood: Men in Tights, and Young Frankenstein. How could this go wrong? So, I turned off my brain for an evening and went to catch it at the theatre a few weeks ago.

My anxiety about it had disappeared by the time the first scenes came along. I was won over. This was Maxwell Smart. Maybe not the Maxwell Smart that we quite remembered from the TV show, but he didn't have to be. He wasn't trying to be. He just was. What I mean by this is that they weren't trying to be exact copies of the characters we came to know and love, but that they allowed the characters to be slightly updated, fitting the actor's skill, allowing for some growth to the characters. So, for Steve Carrell's Smart, he was played perfectly in the way that Steve Carrell played him.

We get to see 99 played by Anne Hathaway, and the kind of delivery is very similar to the original 99, in her own way. Alan Arkin's portrayal of the Chief is also very good, and right on the money. I don't think I would have chosen anyone else to play him.

There's a lot going on in the movie, yet it never feels like it's dragged down for any second. It's an intelligent comedy that actually pays tribute to the series that it had been born from , instead of insulting it, and the fans.

In fact, there are a ton of little nods to the series, including things that Max originally used in the series. It's not overdone, to the point of slapping you over the head with it.

So, with that said, I came away feeling satisfied, and even impressed. One of the better TV adaptations in recent memory.