2023 IN REVIEW
FAVORITE ALBUMS
Cowboys in the Campfire- Wronger: The first release from former Replacements bassist, Tommy Stinson's touring project, Cowboys in the Campfire. Tommy Stinson was an underrated driving force in The Replacements and his projects since the Replacements have showcased his songwriting talent.
Ben Folds- What Matters Most: This was the first release from Folds in eight years. The album showcased Folds' quirky humor in songs like "Kristine from the 7th Grade", where Folds learns that a former classmate is into alt right conspiracy theories. The humor is balanced with the emotionally beautiful title track and the album's closer, "Moments".
Matt Nathanson- The Lexington EP: A collection of live songs, covers, and outtakes. Nathanson's cover duet with Sara Watkins of Til Tuesday's "Coming Up Close" in absolutely gorgeous as is the Boston Accents outtake, "Japanese". I am not sure why this gem didn't make it on Boston Accents.
The Rolling Stones- Hackney Diamonds: Yes, The Stones are rock legends. However, new original material from the Stones has been a little hit or miss since 1981's Tattoo You. That has changed with Hackney Diamonds, an album that shows the Stones still rock and are fresh and relevant today. The first single, "Angry", is the best the Stones have sounded in years and it kicks younger bands' asses.
LIVE MUSIC
The best show I saw this year was Matt Nathanson's show in Cincinnati at the Memorial Hall. The acoustics in the venue were perfect as was the set drawing heavily from his stellar album, Boston Accent. Nathanson has a gift for engaging the audience and the audience responded well.
The most disappointing show I saw in 2023 was Guns N Roses' show at Rupp Arena in Lexington. While Slash and Duff McKagan were on fire, Axl Rose's voice did not sound good. Rose said he was sick but the quality of Rose's vocals seems to be a pretty common complaint of recent shows. The soundman even had Rose's vocals too low, as though not to emphasize them. Gun N Roses played for close to three hours and there were long stretches in the set where they played songs the audience didn't appear to recognize. The band seemed to have difficulty keeping the audience consistently engaged for almost three hours. The band appeared to choose quantity in their set over quality.
TV
With the writers' strike this year, it was hard to find great new TV this year. I do think the return of the Sex and the City reboot, And Just Like That gets my vote for most improved show. While the first season was riddled with stories that fans of the original series didn't want, the second season found its footing. While the original series gave a fresh look at single women, And Just Like That gave a fresh perspective of younger widows. New characters, like Seema, were welcomed fits to the model of the original series. The second season also distanced itself from the unpopular, unlikable new character, Che. Bringing back Aidan from the original series was a welcomed breath of fresh air for the show. The season was not perfect, the finale was too open ended, but it was much improved over the first season.
It is interesting to me that as I gained an interest this year in classic films, that a series and a documentary were released on my favorite classic Hollywood actors, Cary Grant and Rock Hudson. The Brit Box series, Archie, was based on Cary Grant's life. Jason Isaac's portrayal of Grant is spot on. Though he does not look as good as Grant (really who does?), he played Grant's unique voice and mannerisms perfectly. The story was non linear but was pretty historically correct. There were some events from Grant's early life that were not presented chronologically correct. My only criticism was the source material of the series was Grant's ex wife and mother of his only child, Dyan Canon's biography. Canon was only involved with Grant for three of his eighty two years so I feel her biography is a limited view of Grant's life and is slanted.
Rock Hudson: All That Heaven Allowed is a documentary on Rock Hudson's life. I saw several flaws with this documentary. I hated the way this film was edited. The director, Stephen Kijak, loved taking clips from Hudson's films out of context and presenting them as a hidden message of Hudson's homosexuality. This became quite ridiculous at times to watch. The Spiral Road, which was released in 1962, could not be a secret commentary on AIDS. Kijak very prominently features several gay men on screen, a few who never met Hudson, but all of the women Kijak interviewed for the film are heard but not seen. Very little is discussed in the film on the wonderful films Hudson acted in but gossipy stuff like playing an obviously private phone call Hudson had or one man discussing the size of Hudson's man part are very prominently featured. Kijak spends a third of the film on the last two years of Hudson's life, after his diagnosis and ultimate death from AIDS. If Kijak was trying to give a commentary on the early days of AIDS, there are several documentaries that do a better job addressing this. There was more to Hudson's life that he should be remembered for, not just his death.
MUSIC DOCUMENTARIES
There were two great music documentaries released this year. Milli Vanilli is about the music industry's most bizarre cons that the faces of the 80's band did not sing any of band's music. The documentary is an outstanding cautionary tale of what happens when the music industry places image above talent. We the public made fun of Milli Vanilli when they fell but the real villain was producer, Frank Farian, who created this scam and exploited several black musicians for his own gain.
Wham! was a heart warming story of the rise the 80's duo. Based on archival footage and Wham member, Andrew Ridgeley's mother's scrapbooks, the film is a sweet story of the friendship between Ridgeley and George Michael. It was because of their friendship and mutual respect that Ridgeley could acknowledge that Michael had more talent and was too big for Wham.
IN MEMORY
Matthew Perry (1969-2023)
I started 2023 reading Matthew Perry's memoir. It was sad to read of his struggles with addiction and to find peace. I had hoped for better for Perry after reading his book. His death from an accidental drug interaction in October was a tragic final chapter to his life. RIP Matthew, you were always my favorite Friend.
