Bond Is Back
***No spoilers really, but if you want to be truly surprised, wait 'til you've seen the movie to read this.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
the real James Bond stood up tonight. Wow. Rock'em, Sock 'em. And he can actually act. Daniel Craig comes out guns a-blazing and doesn't look back. Neither does the Bond franchise. In my opinion, Casino Royale ranks with Goldfinger, From Russia With Love and On Her Majesty's Secret Service as one of the best Bond's ever. It is that good. From the monochromatic opening to the hyper-technicolor title sequence to the 10 minute "free-running" chase through Madagascar. Much of it has to be seen to be believed. It's got all of the exotic locales you expect; Italy's Lake Como especially looks like an Elysian dream. There are the dynamic fights, life-saving gadgets and a few good quips (though they went very easy on the one-liners). All the proper ingredients for a James Bond movie.
The real revelation is Craig, who actually looks like he could kick anyone's ass and do all the running and tumbling he does. Unlike the other 007's, you would absolutely not want to be on the wrong side of him. Connery of course, is the "original," but just as with Batman Begins last year, and Superman Returns this summer, Casino Royale works hard to establish the new actor as the character in his own right. And it certainly succeeds. Craig will make you forget you ever saw Pierce Brosnan as Bond, let alone Tim Dalton. And his Jimmy Bond would beat the crap out of Roger Moore. I haven't been this excited about a Bond film since the first time I got to stay up late to watch Goldfinger on TV.
For those familiar with the movies, some fine friendly faces show up along the way. Dame Judi Dench as M and Bond newcomer, Jeffrey Wright as Felix Leiter. Eva Green actually helps ratchet up the Bond Girl quotient as Vesper with real acting chops. But this is Daniel Craig's show all the way. He makes the World Tournament of Poker look as downright geriatric as it is. His gaming showdown (and gamesmanship) with the villain, Le Chiffre (Dane Mads Mikkelsen), is as tense as the action sequences.
Among the high-octane highlights is a wonderful Miami International based scene that is an obvious homage to first Bullitt, then Raiders Of The Lost Ark, which both owe much to the Bond franchise. And what fan of the series wouldn't love the final set piece in a crumbling Venetian palazzo or for that matter the last line of the film. Stupendous. I cheered through much of it and did my annoying "loud" applause as the film faded to black. I can't wait to see it again. I can't wait to see what Mr. Craig's Bond does next. And when they need a new theme song, we'll be around to provide it.
In band news, I will post the upcoming show dates in the a.m. Time for bed.
Love, Power, Peace
Hey Soul Mates,
there's a new voice that I encourage you to check out. She's from Australia, so there are some obvious comparisons to previous pop idols from down under. But Tania Moran is the real deal. Her new CD, Sanctity, drops this month. It's already up on iTunes Australia. Some of our friends and fans already know her. If not: Listen up. Tania's voice is simply stunning. This is a major star in the making. She's the new Olivia Newton-John for the 21st Century. But even that's putting it too simply. Tania is not just another angel faced pop star (although, she meets that criteria), she writes her own material and plays keys on her recordings. You can hear ON-J and Kylie Minogue in her vocals, but you'll also recognize the atmosphere of Seal and Sade in the production, which helps give it her own flavor. I've listened to her tracks on the web many times, I particularly dig "Changes," and I can't wait to hear the whole CD. Expect to hear her songs everywhere in 2007!
[That reminds me, I need to compile my rundown of the best of '06 for this here blog in a week or two. Gotta wait to hear what Hova brings this month.]
This is the beauty of the internet and some folks in the music community understand that you've got to support your peers and shout about it when you hear someone you like. Represent! Gone wit your bad self, Tania.
In Rush Hour Soul news, we are going to announce a mess of new show dates. Watch this space, true believers.
Love, Power, Peace
Clarification
I am aware that typically only hardcore Soul Mates and family (I know you love us and what we do) read my blogs. Tonight I have one for the ages. After speaking with Doug and Bryan by phone, I can simply tell you that I am fed up. The band is. Apparently, we are too polished and professional for our own good. This is the truth about Rush Hour Soul.
We have never been signed to a record label. We've never even been approached by one. If you own any of our CDs you might have noticed something called Mighty Ohio Music. That is the name of my (d/b/a) publishing company. That is our own imprint. No backing or money behind it. No clout. No distribution other than the grace of CDBaby.
We have never gotten a legit review. Not one single notice about a live show, the EP, our music video. Nada. Zip. No ink. No love, no hate. No recognition.
We have never had a manager. One sniffed close enough to know we are stars, but couldn't hack it. No representation of any sort has ever been a part of the RHS business model. The one lawyer we thought we knew has ignored us completely. So much for family friends.
Worst thing is, these people can't even tell us "no." Is that asking too much? They won't communicate at all. We've sent out lots of presskits, CDs and now, DVDs with all of our videos. To no avail. Very frustrating. We know the music is great, we know the live show is a popular entertainment here in Los Angeles and abroad. We want to be signed to a record deal. We want to be managed and represented. We want to be a global phenomenon. But frankly, we would rather be told to retire, than to be ignored wholesale. And that's what's going on.
Even after our music video, after all the shows, after our tour of England... this is still a Do-It-Yourself operation. Booking. Us. Management. Us. Website. Us. Promotion. Us. Publicity. Us. Finance. Us. If it says "Rush Hour Soul," we are doing it our own damn selves. Don't be fooled by how pretty we look on the web or on stage. We are in the wilderness.
The amount of time, energy, resources and money we've put into RHS this past year would make your head spin. It does mine. And we don't even get to rehearse. Doug lives so far away that we only rehearse the night before a show. You've seen how slamming the show is. The logistics for the band are a killer. We certainly don't get paid when we play around L.A. But we do it for the love of performing for our most ardent fans and because we love the music. Nobody else will play our songs, so we need to do it. Or do we?
Have we done as much as we can, but it wasn't enough? Somebody please tell me. While we are young. This is what I mean by "we look too pro." Casual onlookers think we are already signed and on the cusp of releasing an album, etc. What a wonderful perception, but it's 100% inaccurate. When we book a show, it's because I've hustled. When we get studio time, it's because Bryan hustled. When we get a new cover song together, it's because Doug hustled.
I've learned a lot in the past decade about being in a band. Playing. Writing. Performing. Booking. Publishing. Recording. Releasing songs. Image. Touring. Maybe I know too much? Make it look like we don't know what we're doing. Amateurs. Then we'd get signed. Play crap music and wear crap clothing. Cover of a magazine.
We got one gift this year (recording in Wales), but it was the product of a whole bunch of other very hard work and sacrifice. I feel thankful for it, but it was still a tooth-pull of Herculean proportion. It became a classic struggle to get the song edited and finished from 5000 miles away after months of dealing with someone else's nervous breakdown. And the band plays on. Because we are professionals.
Some are going to say this rant ain't cool or doesn't reflect a professional attitude. "F" it. The band agrees on all of this. We are tired of flakes. We are tired of people getting jazzed about helping us, then 24 hours later forgetting what they said. We are tired of being ignored.
So what next for Rush Hour Soul? I thought the trip to the UK would be our denouement. That was February. Here it's November and the fruits of our labor have given way to the same old bullshit. We go blindly on: booking one show a month, sending out CDs and DVDs, spending money on gear and flyers, hoping the right person is going to sign us at a moment's notice.
There's nothing I enjoy more than performing our songs for you. I can't imagine anything as gratifying. But perhaps I made a major miscalculation somewhere along the way. The choice is clear: keep on pushing or call it a career.
Stay tuned to find out what we've chosen.
Love, Power, Peace
Hey Soul Mates,
only 2 days left to vote (voting ends on Nov. 17, 2006) for your Rush Hour Soul in YouTube's Underground Music Video contest. We have three videos up in three different categories. Here are the links to each of our nominated videos:
A Talent For Loving (Over 2100 views, wawawowee!)
From L.A. With Love (Our EPK/tour doc, with over 1100 views)
Fall Out (Live at the Cavern, with almost 1000 views)
You can only vote for each video once, but please be sure to do at least that. Thanks for your support! RHS is going Mega in '07 and it starts with you, here.
Love, Power, Peace
Borat and Pirates: Cultural Booty
Jagshemash, Soul Mates!
Last night, we had an L.A. adventure. Spent the evening in a part of town that is not usually on my radar. Los Feliz!
First, it was moviefilm times at the Vista on Sunset. Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Kazakhstan was the feature. It was preceded by a Pink Panther short, "Pinto Pink." I can't remember the last time I saw a cartoon in front of an R rated movie, if ever. Haven't seen the Pink Panther in years, period. The Vista is a beautiful, small (one-screen) theater, done up in a faux Egyptian motif. Lots of leg room in all of the aisles. Plus, a curtain that covers the screen until showtime. Borat was simply hysterical. I will tell you nothing about the film except to say: wrestling. Oh, but it made me miss Tom Green. Where's your movie at, Tom? One of the nicest things about the Vista was it's inexpensive ticket price: $8 American for an adult at night. Wow, that's the cost of an adult ticket for most matinees around town. And the Vista's popcorn rocks (and I would know)!
Borat: A-Pluses for gradings moviefilm! It's nice.
After the movie, it was up Vermont to the Electric Lotus for some very nice curry. After all, curries are being proven to prolong your smarts and brain power. Sounds good to me. The ambiance of the Electric Lotus messed with my depth perception, but it was still cool. The clientele seemed to be Silverlake hipster types for the most part along with L.A.'s resident younger Indian crowd. An interesting mix. I must recommend the cheese & olive naan to anyone who goes.
Tonight, I was thrilled at the bookstore. My reading is usually nonfiction: autobiographies, biographies, interviews, histories, pamphlets, cereal box sides. But tonight, right there on the first table, like it was waiting for me was the latest installment in Gideon DeFoe's Pirates! series. I'm pretty sure they aren't nonfiction. I hope so anyway.
I don't bother with those Caribbean pirates. DeFoe's are much more amusing and this time they are in an adventure with Communists! Sure to be fun for the entire proletariat. It's helpful for me that DeFoe's volumes are short so I can actually finish a novel. See? He entertains and makes me feel good about myself. That's an artiste or at least an opportunist. I pray that his books are never turned into movies.
Have a great week everyone. We hope to announce our next show date this week.
Love, Power, Peace
