REVIEW: J. COLE - MIGHT DELETE LATER

3.5/5

Cole As Ice.

Feel cute? Whatever your hip-hop Mount Rushmore is in this modern day (we're still waiting for one more piece of head...erm...what?! That sounds a little like Tyler The Creator), you can't deny the big-three. Unless you're Kendrick Lamar, that is. Who sees it as "just me" (not me, he) like the ominous words of Willem Dafoe's Harry Osbourne before he turned into the Green Goblin for Spider-Man with 'No Way Home'. Responses came raw, fixed and fast. Whether it was all the memes mocked up online for Drake, or J. Cole's surprise album that he 'Might Delete Later' (if you're reading this...it may already be too late). Especially as he took to the stage this week to walk back his bars and explain how corny this all was. Admittedly, that's what this writer first thought when he heard all about this. Beef?! Again?! Is this 50 Cent and Ja Rule all over again? Nas and Jay-Z? Pac and BIG? We've already got mo' problems in hip-hop right now, with some of its most famous faces turning out to be disgraces. The only stakes I want to see is a second season of the Ali Wong and Steven Yeun show on Netflix. That was what I thought...until I heard the diss track.

It really is 'Like That' as on a '7 Minute Drill', Cole gets his dentistry on, filling in with no novocaine for the soul, before he sputters out. "I came up in the 'Ville, so I'm good when it's tension/He still doin' shows, but fell off like the Simpsons/Your first s### was classic, your last s### was tragic/Your second shit put n####s to sleep, but they gassed it/Your third s### was massive and that was your prime/I was trailin' right behind and I just now hit mine/Now I'm front of the line with a comfortable lead/How ironic, soon as I got it, now he want somethin' with me/Well, he caught me at the perfect time, jump up and see/Boy, I got here off of bars, not no controversy/Funny thing about it, b####, I don't even want the prestige/F### the Grammys 'cause them crackers ain't never done nothin' for me, h#."Apart from 'The Simpsons' triggering (last year I decided to take on the mammoth task of watching all the seasons, an episode a day), this was the moment I realized hip-hop was back, and this battle on wax was like the good old days when ladies loved Cool James. But then, when Cole walked it back, people declared hip-hop was dead like Nas. 50 Cent even urged J to call him to gas up his lyrical ether. But we understand why. This purist just wants peace. And love to inspire his industry so used to ignorant hate. Feeling like he let Nas down, even that 'Mastermind' was hurt when he had to lyrically kill Jay-Z and how whole squad. This drill felt like a Drake freestyle in a city of his choice, or the time Cam'ron went at Jigga for ten minutes with Beyoncé singing about slinging crack receipts. The Diplomat is back too, like the 'I'm Ready' sample on 'Ready '24', which shows Cam is still the man on the mic, like he is on the podcast one with Ma$e for the money like Anthony. All as the rapping ballplayer with the SLAM cover, Cole, shouts out the potential of another Cam (Lakers player Reddish) in this game.

Don't delete this, Cole. But maybe walk back those transphobic comments on the life of 'Pi'. Before 'The Fall Off', don't actually do so. Stand your ground. Your manhood and mantle was tested. Take it from this over apologizer. Don't do it! Just keep it on wax and then shake hands once the battle is done and won...which right now is by you. Even though, we'll wait to see what happens this New Music Friday. Soon this bad blood will be an afterthought when Taylor Swift comes through and rules the country again like 'Cowboy Carter' and there's nothing Kanye can do about it. It's not a man's world any more, but you still bring out the big guns and bars to warn a brother that you're 'Huntin' Wabbitz', no speech impediment. There's Ari Lennox, Young Dro and Gucci Mane on 'Pricey'. Bas and Central Cee on 'H.Y.B.' Daylyt and Ab-Soul on the track you should probably delete. Bas again going 'Stealth Mode'. And 'Trae The Truth In Ibiza'. Save the 'Crocodile Tearz'. Some of this, like that, snaps and slaps. Besides, this is just mixtape murder. Just wait until the album. Giving us Peggy Lee 'Fever' like, "Got a new deal, just ran a train on a label/They not real and so they came with some fables/Without a chain, them boys plain as a bagel/I'm from the Ville, they sellin' 'caine if they able/I play the middle, I never hustled or nothin'/But I got lit, now I got the customers jumpin'." These 'Stickz n Stonez' are capable of breaking more than bones to the '3001'. Rapping on this Alchemist produced gem, "Thеse n###s get rich and become so detached, they music start havin' that surface feel/Not a subliminal, speakin' in general, feelings get hurt when words get spilled/Sticks and stones may break your bones, but sayin' my name in a verse will kill." They say names will never hurt you, but calling them out in the most sensitive industry going will sure lead to some drama, like the late, great DJ Kay Slay. So long as you stand by what you say. We don't need the actions, but in this game, we must stay true to our word as a stronger than oak bond. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Playlist Picks: '7 Minute Drill', 'Huntin' Wabbitz', 'Ready '24' (Feat. Cam'ron)'.

REVIEW: BECK (Acoustic) @ EX Theatre, Roppongi, Tokyo, Japan (07/04/24)

4/5

Tokyo Phase.

A microphone without two turntables (although he did break into a piano perfect rendition of 'Odelay's' 'Where It's At'), Beck told the crowd for the second show of the day of his acoustic tour of Tokyo, "it's just me...and you!" As well, it should be. Beck hasn't put an album out in a half-decade (2019's 'Hyperspace' which couldn't be more Tokyo if it tried). Although acoustically, he did release 'Thinking About You' and a cover of Neil Young's 'Old Man' for Tom Brady. And he hadn't been in Japan, until last night, since six years ago. But he has more in common with the land of the rising sun than just bringing a sweet smelling Sakura tree onstage to mark the blooming of cherry blossom season here. Or the somewhat six degrees of separation that almost brought a tear to this writer's eye when he broke out a cover of Chris Bell's 'I Am The Cosmos'. One performed so poignantly by avenging actress Scarlett Johansson, making her mark with inspired singer/songwriter Pete Yorn for their 'Break Up' EP. The same way she did in the movie world with Bill Murray for Sofia Coppola's classic 'Lost In Translation'...the whole reason this writer even finds himself lucky enough to now reside here in the first place.

Turns out, Tokyo and Japan have helped shape Bek David Campbell too. Most of the stirringly sad 'Sea Change' was written here, as we were treated to moving performances of 'Guess I'm Doing Fine' (after the 'Cycle' of the intro to its sister album, 'Morning Phase'), 'Lost Cause', and then 'Lonesome Tears' and 'Round The Bend' back-to-back. While the album artwork lettering of his massive 'Mutations' (we had 'Lazy Flies' and a bottle of "blooze" (thanks for the pun, Chris), although I had two hands together for 'Nobody's Fault But My Own') was provided by PARCO. A department store that couldn't be more Beck if it tried. "Arrigato" he told the crowd seriously and endearingly as the Japanese faithful loved that he wasn't lost in translation, reading sentiments written on the set-list floor. Raw, but polished in the sound it produced, Beck admitted he didn't know how to use the effects pedal he was gifted with that offered more 808s to his string selection. Road testing some harmonicas, he went through with the kind of kindness you don't see on Bumble, he was anything but fumbling around as this artist found the best strokes to paint with. All before strapping on the instrument like braces and almost looking like Dylan (sorry, Chalamet), as the man who started out as a folk singer (touring Tokyo, no less) went to work with the Springsteens and Zimmermans of the world. Yet this is Beck. You know he has a bag like no other, when it comes to versatility. All the way to Brazil. He may have not released an album for time, although 'Colors' still paints as fresh as the day it hit your speaker's canvas, but he's produced one this weekend for the 'Ohio Players' of The Black Keys, as this hip-hop head linked up with Juicy J for a 'Paper Crown'.

You can best bet Beck brought it to Tokyo this weekend (thanks for the repost). All for the losers baby, who won on this Saturday night in the hills of Roppongi, no longer for the lonely. Shining in orange like the Tokyo Tower that watches over this part of the city, Beck came strong with a sensational set and a legendary list of hits at that. His first show also featured his 'Old Man' take (maybe he didn't want to trigger me this time) and 'Debra' made even more famous by 'Tokyo Vice' star Ansel Elgort's 'Baby Driver' singing it to Lily James' namesake. He said he'd tour the greatest hits next year. And you don't need to hold him to a promise you know he'll keep and besides, everyone from the Chilli's to Bruno Mars keep coming back here, literally year-after-year since the post pandemic borders have opened back up. But he brought them here too. 'Truck Driving Neighbors' (wait for the story behind that one), 'Unforgiven', 'Heart Is A Drum'. All to tell us, 'True Love Will Find You In The End' and the end of the night on 'One Foot' and his penultimate, iconic 'Loser' as classic 90s Americana as his "cameo" on 'The Simpsons', or the same Levis jeans whose stocks are now soaring thanks to the 'Cowboy Carter' of Beyoncé's collaboration with Post Malone. But only this rock star (and a little bit of a country one) can bend genres like this from the Billy Joel to the hip-hop, hands in the air, one mic-manship. And he's already armed with enough Grammy's that Kanye couldn't storm and the late, great Prince should have given it up more for. Because, no one, aside from the purple one himself, can reign over this much music as Beck. He's got too many hits, too, like the artist once proclaimed during his 21 night showstopper in London. This, on the other hand, may only be a one night residency, but Beck is back. And you know that's where it's at. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Set-List Picks: 'I Am The Cosmos', 'Lonesome Tears', 'Loser'.

REVIEW: THE BLACK KEYS - OHIO PLAYERS

4/5

The Big Lebowski 

Mark it as anything but zero! In their own lane, Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney, AKA, The Black Keys have been releasing a steady stream of albums for your Spotifys over the last half decade. Sitting right next to the 'Brothers'' best-of-the-best like 'Rubber Factory', 'Turn Blue' and 'El Camino'. There was 2019's 'Let's Rock', 'Delta Kream' (2021), 'Dropout Boogie' a year later, and now this twelfth bowl from the boys, 'Ohio Players', like the old soul group for your baker's dozen. Classic Americana beauty like the partner playing in front of you, down the waxed aisle, that leads to a set of pins and better Spotify bowling animations than the ones you used to see above you on the screen where you recorded your score. It's a perfect one for these players from Ohio, not to mention one of the greatest acts of American music and modern and all times. The Easy Eye Sound that's also candy from baby on the ears is a Nonesuch Record, proceeded perfectly by the sweet singles 'Beautiful People (Stay High)' and the latest 'This Is Nowhere'. Not to mention creative and classic collaborations with Lil' Noid ('Candy and Her Friends'), and Beck (who we are lucky enough to see perform an acoustic set in Roppongi, Tokyo tonight) and Juicy J (the anything but hollow 'Paper Crown'). And an absolutely amazing cover of William Bell's 1968 sobering soul sensation standard, 'I Forgot To Be Your Lover'.

Don't you...forget about this in beautiful black and white from a Nashville studio, a week after Beyoncé went country for 'Cowboy Carter'. These rock and roll Gods on their own hall of fame have affirmations for the game ('On The Game') like 'Only Love Matters'. The dynamic duo going 44:04 like Jay-Z with super-producer Dan The Automater next to Auerbach and Carney and album artwork the late 90s or Blink-182 would be proud of. After the opening 'Nowhere' they yearn for the blues of 'Don't Let Me Go', singing, "On a desert road, with no way home/I was lost and alone now baby/I was feelin' adrift, behind the window tint/And the pouring rain couldn't save me." Guttural guitars barrel through on 'Please Me ('Till I'm Satisfied)' ("hey now girl, I know you understand/I'm satisfied to be your loving man/Everybody said you'll bring me to my knees/But we both know that we was born to be/Please, please, please me till I'm satisfied/Some got love that creeps away in the night/Some take hold of love they know ain't right/I got loving, keeps my soul so true/You got the loving that I can't refuse") beautifully before you are. Then 'You'll Pay' does the same to the piper with promises of, "Open up your heart and let me in/I loved you from the start, my only friend, ooh lord/I know that when you look my way, there's gonna be a price to pay." Cash out.

Herringbone cold, the third act of this movie really hits. Tying it together like the room in a beautiful bow. "I wanna talk to the silver sun/Walk through the jungle with a candy gun/Write my name up on the clouds/Smoke all day, never comin' down," the automatic Dan sings on 'Live 'Till I Die', and you should take it as read that Auerbach intends to do exactly that. Drawing up a winning hand for 'Read 'Em And Weep'. Wearing his heart on his sleeve and putting all his cards on the table, dealing, "Read 'em and weep, revenge is sweet/The secrets you keep, they bury you deep/Deeper than sleep, read 'em and weep/It's only right to wonder, what sort of spell I'm under/Your cheating game is an art/You know it's true, you can't undo what's done in the dark." Growing a 'Fever Tree' with a devil's haircut in your mind, The brilliant Beck, who serves as another producer for the record, is back for background vocals like playing Japan's capital twice in a night this Saturday. Culminating in the classic closer 'Every Time You Leave', which is what happens when you forget to be a lover one too many times. Used to get it in Ohio like Cam'ron 'till they "Tried living without you, not thinking about you/Why wouldn't you want to want me to?/One day I'll be crying, till the days when I'm dying/Next time I'll be trying to look for you/Every time you leave me, I know I'm gonna lose my ways/If you don't believe me, look at how I live today." These are just songs in the keys of life that keep rolling until it all fades to black. Play on player. Not bad for just two kids from Akron. Let's get it, Ohio! TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Playlist Picks: 'Beautiful People (Stay High)', 'Paper Crown (Feat. Beck & Juicy J)', 'I Forgot To Be Your Lover'.

REVIEW: SHERYL CROW - EVOLUTION

3/5

A Change Will Do You Good 

A Crow left of the genre. On the same New Music Friday that sees Queen B Beyoncé drop the "R" to rule another genre like 'Texas Hold Em' with her 'Cowboy Carter' certified classic, country pop star like Shania and Swift, Sheryl Crow leaves that very genre for more rock and roll fame with her latest career 'Evolution'. After all, if it makes you happy...you know the rest. Just like all the Crow classics. This isn't the first time one of modern day America's greatest singer-songwriters Sheryl has pushed the envelope like the 'Visions' of Norah Jones earlier this month in her El Michels Affair spectacle prescription. Sheryl once shot us with a stirring Pierce Brosnan era Bond theme that shook up the world. And refusing to stay in one place, the rock goddess continues her growth and proof that tomorrow really well and truly never dies. If 2020 was the year of 'Women In Music' like Haim, or Taylor Swift heading to a 'Folklore' cabin in the woods, and great Brit Lianne La Havas giving us her self-titled, personal best lyrics lacing love. Then 2024. The year of the Girl Dad, late, great Kobe is the calendar that crafts creativity from the better half. Jones. The artist formerly known as Knowles. And now this queen. All before the new throne taker, Maggie Rogers, makes sure you don't forget about her in the April Spring showers for this Breakfast Club that's truly eating this first quarter.

The latest from Bey's hive is another almost hour and a half movie-making classic. This, on the other hand, is a half-hour of all power and a nice album that goes down easy like coffee on a Sunday morning. In promoting this piece, Crow admits that albums and their promotion are a waste of time and money. But nothing is wanted not here, showcasing her skill-set and the fact that real fans know. It's the album tracks that settle all that. Just like the concluding big-three of 'Don't Walk Away', 'Broken Record' and 'Waiting In The Wings' that make this epic 'Evolution' album what it is. This 90s megastar like the Chicago Bulls or F.R.I.E.N.D.S. was so big in the decade of 'Jurassic Park' like good old days, golden era blockbusters, she could have formed a supergroup with Shania Twain and the like, like a Travelling Wilbury. But who needs that, when Sheryl gives you everything she has each time out? This time, spearheaded by the singles 'Alarm Clock' (the opening wake up which might hit snooze), the self-titled 'Evolution', 'Do It Again' and the latest 'Digging In The Dirt' crate finding hit in this Big Machine of an Americana record. The first album since the social media ahead of its time 'Threads' in 2019 comes as a pleasant surprise in more ways than one. Sheryl said she wouldn't release another record after that because of aforementioned reasons. We're glad a change of heart here has done us all good.

The Genesis of Peter Gabriel help her dig for more than dirt in this gold album that would surely go platinum back in the day. Not just her heyday. Because Crow has still got it. Not when best, but still one of her brightest, this is a victory lap for Sheryl's inspired induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of the Fame. All in the same weekend, Beyoncé shoots for the country one with a stronghold. Armed up with her trusty guitar along for the ride in this evolution, never to leave her side, even in these times, Sheryl sings "And you could add up all the tears that fill a river/Or trace the words that break a heart/But you'd miss the blue jay and the message he delivers/Every moment has a brand-new start" on 'You Can't Change The Weather'. Perfect poetic prose, even though change sometimes can't come. No matter how much good, it would do you in the long run. Yet you've still got to 'Love Life' like the ever optimistic and outstanding songbook singer tells it in another anthem for the album we're glad she 360'd on from the pessimism like Carter's left turn. 'Where?' Right here, where you stand. In this very moment. Singing along to, "Waters rise up on the freeway/While little hands are clapping in the snow/And in the tree, there lives a blackbird/Singing songs not meant for anyone below." This is Crow's elevating 'Evolution' era. And we love Sheryl's version. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Playlist Picks: 'Don't Walk Away', 'Broken Record', 'Waiting In The Wings'.

REVIEW: BEYONCE - COWBOY CARTER

4/5

Cowboy Bey-Bop

A little bit country. A little bit Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. When beau Jay-Z received the award of a lifetime at the Grammys, he dedicated the moment to Bey, like if Kanye had stormed the stage and done the right thing by Tay, instead of being a jerk. Yes, Beyoncé has one of the greatest music careers of all-time, and this was the moment for Mr. Carter to remind music's Oscars to give her her flowers. It's crazy in a lack of love that this child of Destiny and Blue's mother hasn't nabbed the coveted Best Album golden gramophone yet. But that's all about to change with the eighth wonder, as the 'Renaissance' continues. Here is 'Act II' of B's trilogy idea, conceived during COVID. Another almost 90 minute cinematic piece, as we can't wait to hear what the Carter's got next, like an unchained Tarantino trilogy once upon a time in Hollywood. Or is that Nashville? As 'Cowboy Carter' swings and gets it spurs on in the land that cultivated Swift's career. All on the same Friday, fellow all-American legend Sheryl Crow makes her own musical 'Evolution' away from the great American genre. Renaissance riding on the back of the same steed, but this time with a Stetson and the Stars and Stripes (not to mention, a few more stitches of clothing), country music stations at first refused to roll out Beyoncé's terrific 'Texas Hold 'Em' singles. But that ain't Texas. That was until 'Hold 'Em' broke streaming records and stacked chips. Now with actual album country camaraderie co-sings from the genre greats like Dolly Parton and Willie Nelson (playing 'Smoke Hour' radio DJ like Jim Carrey for The Weeknd), you're looking at a country classic as well as one of Bey's best. Album of the Year? Make that the country one too. This is gospel. Hold that.

YEE-HAW (you knew it was coming)! As country as Dallas, Texas' own Jamie Foxx, Beyoncé rides into a new dawn on a sweet '16 Carriages' with a beautiful 'American Requiem' for the new dream that sings "Can we stand for something?/Now is the time to face the wind (Ow)/Coming in peace and love, y'all/Oh, a lot of takin' up space/Salty tears beyond my gaze/Can you stand me?/(Can you stand me? Can you stand me? Can you stand me?)/Ooh, ah/Can we stand?/(Can you stand me? Can you stand me? Can you stand me?/Can you stand me? Can you stand me? Can you stand me?)/Can you stand with me?" Yes we can...together in an all-encompassing anthem that blends the blues, soul and R&B of this country folk and genre bender into one perfect, punctuated package. Wrapping up a peacefully prophetic protest song in subtle beauty to begin this whole thing. Iconic. The legends are here with the biggest one, as are some of the next legacy makers. As Post Malone, fresh off his 'Road House' remake left turn, knuckled up cameo (the all-American star pressed and superb singing 'Levis' Jeans') and Dolly's God-daughter and her own incredible individual Miley Cyrus ('II Most Wanted' like Tupac and Snoop) appear on two of the best country cuts. But how internet breaking and world dominating would a Swift collaboration have been? Going Gaga over the 'Telephone'. But bye bye to all that as the Beatle 'Blackbiird' with Tanner Adell, Brittney Spencer, Tiera Kennedy and Reyna Roberts is the Macca excellence personified. Whilst the 'Spaghettii' western with legend Linda Martell and Shaboozey (also in the smoke house for some 'Sweet Honey Buckin'') shoots straight like Eastwood with a 'Desert Eagle' on a wild west drawing showdown that is good, the baddest, and ugly face inducing.

Take off your hats to the new album of the year in the same month the 'Visions' of Norah Jones with an El Michels Affair pushes the envelope of her career. You can expect these two legends of women in music like Haim to go head-to-head in the same saloon door category as we away part III. Guitar God Nile Rodgers, his get lucky punk partner and N.E.R.D. Pharrell Williams, and the new American songbook writer Jon Batiste also manns these Tennessee like whiskey boards. Not to mention the one and only Stevie. What a wonder indeed. Whilst another little Willie in the form of Jones leaves us with a country one 'Just For Fun'. But it's Rumi Carter who shows us what this 'Protector' is really looking out for as Beyoncé Carter sings, "And I will lead you down that road if you lose your way/Born to be a protector, mm-hmm/Even though I know someday you're gonna shine on your own/I will be your projector, mm." A 'Bodyguard' that will always love you like "Leave my lipstick on the cigarette/Just toss it, and you stomp it out, out, out/Inhalin' whiskey when you kiss my neck'." My Rose' blooms in boundless beauty as the 'Daughter' of Matthew gets redefiant on songbooks as legendary as the Old Testament. "They keep sayin' that I ain't nothin' like my father/But I'm the furthest thing from choir boys and altars/If you cross me, I'm just like my father/I am colder than Titanic water." A ravishing refrain that does anything but as Carter kills it like Jones to 'Miriam' for the new 'Jolene'. Everyone from Norah to her old 'Rome' friend Jack While have covered this Parton classic, working it 9 to 5. But don't hurt yourself, because God herself has the best take in this new age of those with the good hair that even Dolly takes shots at. "Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene/I'm warnin’ you, don't come for my man (Jolene)/Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene/Don't take the chance because you think you can." When life gives you cheaters, you make 'Lemonade', and piss on the parade of anyone who thinks they can do the same. The begging has stopped. Real women take what they want. Just like Parton's own 'Rockstar' album. Crossing the borders of genres.

The Rodeo Queen continues her proud stand on the fabulous, like Vegas 'Flamenco'. So all you flamingos save those 'Alligator Tears' (like me when I realized I missed her yesterday in Shibuya, Tokyo) in your swamps. Because these boots were made for Nancy Sinatra walking. No Crocs! 'Oh Louisiana' this record breaker of a towering album features many an anthem as it continues to shine in all its rhinestones. 'Ya, Ya' singing like, "Hello, girls (Hello, Beyoncé)/Hello, fellas (You're pretty swell)/Those petty ones can't fuck with me (Why?)/'Cause I'm a clever girl, we snappin'/(Pretty please) Toms, please/We wanna welcome you to the Beyoncé Cowboy/Carter: Act II, ah/And a rodeo chitlin circuit/We gon' make it do what it do, ya-ya/Put them hands together." Still running the world like girls, to a renaissance in every genre. You could never break the soul of this survivor. A 'Riiverdance' like Flatley with no flat feet, this two-step is going to twist everything else up and carbon date it like the Charleston. This 'Tyrant' is punishing the game like the time she lyrically bodied her own G.O.A.T. husband on The Carters Louvre rap, going 'Apes###' after all the 'Lemonade'. "II Hands II Heaven' on God like, "Bottle in my hand, the whiskey up high/Two hands to Heaven, wild horses run wild, oh/God only knows why, though (Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)/Rhinestones and diamonds both shine in the light." Just when you thought making lemons was Queen B's career crown, she delivers her magnum opus in a soon-to-be concluded trilogy that could go next to 'The Godfather', 'The Dark Knight's, or 'The Lord of the Rings' like Dune, this month. Like the last track from the messiah herself, can I get an 'Amen'?! TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Playlist Picks: 'Texas Hold 'Em', 'Jolene', 'Daughter'.

MOVIE REVIEW: TAYLOR SWIFT - THE ERAS TOUR (TAYLOR'S VERSION)

4/5

The Americana Dream.

211 Mins. Starring: Taylor Swift. Director: Sam Wrench. On: Disney +.

Tokyo, Japan. The middle of February means Valentine's Day (fun fact, in Japan, February the 14th is the day when women attempt to woo men like a leap year. Whereas, one month later on 'White Day', the men reply with a gift. Talk about getting left on read). Football fans know different, though. On any given Sunday in February, it's Super Bowl time. And as Taylor Swift played almost a week's worth of shows in the Rising Sun's capital, many 'Lovers' wondered whether she would make it back in time for the Sunday showcase featuring her partner, Kansas City Chief tight-end Travis Kelce. Especially with the last show on Saturday night. But the superstar, hero and biggest star on the planet did like only she could...and of course time zones would allow. But I wouldn't put it past Swift being able to go back in time as she brings all her eras back, like re-recording her albums so she could own it all in a master move. The same way the "Swiftenomics" of the biggest tour of all-time has stimulated the American economy (we need that here in Japan too). Prior to all this, the Japanese government had even issued a Taylor made official deceleration on paper that the Super Bowl would not get in the way of the singer performing the entirety of her Tokyo leg, day-by-day. An album announcement as big as best baseball player Shohei Ohtani (check out his Disney doc 'Beyond A Dream') revealing his wife to be Fujitsu Red Wave basketball star Mamiko Tanaka (expect a Kelce wave of fame now) also came in Japan for 'The Tortured Poets Department' (best Wes Anderson movie name ever). This is just how big Miss Americana is. She's an international incident. You could just tell from the legions of fans queueing up like only the Japanese could in a merch line that would equate to most major groups gig lines for the first day of sales of the actual tickets. And for those who couldn't cop a last minute one (hands up), for reasons we won't get into, they congregated and sang together outside, making new friends and memories in beautiful moments that showed how much Swift really does break down barriers, even in a socially shy land like Japan.

The Swifties were out in full force in the Far East like only a BTS Army could match for the biggest act in pop, whose still a little bit country, like a diamond Shania Twain, and one of the best folks in the biz. If you missed out on 'The Eras Tour' in any arena (it's just wrapped up a spot in Singapore), and even the cinemas that became concert halls for the sold out shows of the movie, you can now catch it with Mickey Mouse in the comfort of your own home and laptop speakers that can still bring the full force of all the power she had to bear on the jumbotrons of football stadiums she touched down in all around the world before she embraced her beau after his big win. Disney + is now the home for the three and a half hour epic 'Eras' show, making sure no one will miss this one of a kind event. To watch crimson and clover until your heart's content. Following 'Folklore' behind the scenes tales on Disney, and the Netflix 'Americana' standing next to Beyoncé's and a 'Five Foot Two' Gaga, this is the best concert film available to stream since BTS gave you 'Permission To Dance'. Directed by Sam Wrench, this AMC and Cinemark Theatres landmark hit is as cinematic as the biggest blockbuster of last year ('Barbenheimer' we're looking in your direction). And when Taylor makes her epic 'Eras' entrance underneath some Las Vegas like showwomanship, it's like a superhero entered the picture as she really sticks the landing. Mining heartbreak into gold.

And this Elvis will never leave the building, as she makes planet earth her residency like a Hollywood star in the 90s when we were more concerned about what was on the big screen than what was reflected on our "smart" ones. Those major film studios that passed on this distribution might want to order a plate of humble pie the next time they book a table at Planet Hollywood. They needn't have had reservations. Outside of 'Oppenheimer' and 'Barbie's' world, this has done the popcorn business. It would have been the biggest Marvel movie of the year from the star who is rumoured to play Lady Deadpool in the forthcoming 'Deadpool and Wolverine' film starring her friend Blake Lively's husband. Another friend joked with Swift about all the albums she didn't tour, making some of her best, folky work during our socially isolated pandemic. "What are you going to do, tour them all and do three-hour shows?" Responding like Nashville's Man In Black Johnny Cash when told it looks like he was going to a funeral, "exactly". Swift got her Springsteen at sixty on and brought each and every house down, night after night, after night. And you can see the California love of the SoFi Stadium in Inglewood here for your inspiration. I mean, this is a major player who even has a banner in the Lakers arena, presented to her by the late, great Kobe Bryant, even before one of his two jerseys made it up to those rafters he raised 'chips in. This cinematic rendering like a Beyoncé 'Renaissance' is a revelation that even impressed Oscar winning director Christopher Nolan who had the best film of the year. And now, like 'Oppenheimer' showing in Japan this month after the controversy and sensitivity, you can finally see what we missed. Classic choreography of all the Taylor made hits and star power of pop and perhaps now movie's biggest star. The trend these days may be to call everything an era (even your fashion choices and life decisions), but none is quite like Taylor's version. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Further Filming: 'Taylor Swift-Miss Americana', 'Taylor Swift: Folklore (The Long Pond Studio Sessions)', 'BTS: Permission To Dance- On Stage LA'.

REVIEW: NORAH JONES - VISIONS

 

4/5

Norahvisions.

Ahead of the release of yesterday's ninth wonder of a Norah Jones album ('Visions'), the Los Angeles Times ran a piece to celebrate this album coming out a day after International Women's Day (let's hear it for them, always). They called the legendary Jones, one of the last "success stories of the CD era". And the diamond 'Come Away With Me' released an amazing twenty years ago when Norah was just 23 shows. It went platinum four times in its first 12 months of release and resulted in an armful of Grammys and an iconic portrait from that event for the smoky and smouldering vocal singer and songwriter. Since then, from the 'Sunrise' of 'Feels Like Home', to the personal favourite for deeper meaning that Norah says is for each individual fan, 'Rosie's Lullaby' of 'Not Too Late', she's released classics by the millions. 'Chasing Pirates' and switching it up for 'The Fall', before taking 'Happy Pills' on a whole new style that killed it like 'Miriam'. When it came time to 'Begin Again', the amazing artist who has made albums with everyone from Danger Mouse and Daniele Luppi ('Rome' with Jack White) to Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong ('Foreverly' for The Everly Brothers), not to mention formed supergroups like Puss N Boots, or The Little Willies (for Nelson, not your appendage), considered releasing playlists instead of albums. Thankfully, she brought it back to the basics of the 'Day Breaks' jazzy beginnings. All before 2020's pandemic, 'Pick Me Up Off The Floor' did the very same thing to us amidst our collective struggles.

It's been a long time, but Miss Jones has been busy since then. Touring (seeing her in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics Nippon Budokan in with someone I loved was an absolute dream) and putting festive albums under your tree. If you thought that Jones covering the Christmas classics like Beatles numbers atop the Empire State Building was cool (more like bitterly cold at that time of year), then you should hear the original Yuletide standards from this 'Jolly Jones' on a bicycle in Brooklyn. Now, New York's finest, and one of the America greats who deserves her place next to the Springsteens and Dylans like the ever underrated Ben Harper, takes another left turn for the bolder and better. Giving us one of the first marquee albums of the year, like her friends in Green Day. In what looks like a new Maggie Rogers treat of a first quarter. 'Running' with it like her stellar first single that brings those same 'Sunrise' sing-a-long harmonies back, this Blue Note beauty saves the best for last like the 'That's Life' outstanding original that could stand next to the Sinatra song of the same name. On the powerhouse penultimate, 'Alone With My Thoughts', Jones muses, "Let's try a test/Through space and through time/I'll whisper your name/It'll bounce down the line/Slowly explode into showers of shine/Ooh, ooh." And this album of rough but ready demos with the El Michels Affair Dap King Leon Michels does exactly that in the staples of its psychedelic seventies soul ready to surf.

'Paradise' perfect like the video filmed on a Super Bowl stranded Santa Monica pier in Los Angeles, looking like Coney Island, 'Visions' sees an even greater path at the end of Route 66. 'Staring At The Wall' like the studio session released in YouTube anticipation like a Tiny Desk Concert for your NPR. Norah's been doing this since the pandemic, and her title track cuts even deeper in these times. Telling us, "We met under the willow tree/You stood in front of me/Now I don't like surprises/But the look in your eyes/Is coming at me wise like a freight train." From the inspired intro 'All This Time', as iconic as the 'Good Morning' of those with 'Little Broken Hearts', this 'Queen Of The Sea' swims on a Bruce boardwalk. Born to ride the waves of change as the refrains of the revelatory 'I Just Wanna Dance' cuts the rug and all your troubles away. 'Swept Up In The Night' like the lyrics of, "Wings of God before my eyes/I stare but never act surprised/I need you so." Then in the morning after, "I'm finally awake/There were times when I lost my mind/But now I'm fine/I'm finally awake/Stuck in your sadness, swallowed me away/But I'm finally awake/The thumping in the walls is the beat of my own heart/But I'm finally awake" ('I'm Awake'). Whether it be the unreleased 'Until My Heart Is Found', or the "stop and stare/Breathe the air/No one cares what you have to say/Solitude makes me rude/But in time, we all laugh and play" of 'On My Way', Norah Jones has released another classic for her catalogue. Critics will call it like they see it, and over the decades of her great age, they'll cherry-pick and choose which albums they deem the best with their trends of what's in and what's out. What's clear to hear, however, is there has hardly been an amazing artist as consistent. They're all compelling chapters in her own great American songbook, but run with this spin off of sorts and all the trajectories her style might take her with substance. Like a tour t-shirt we'll always have a Jones for Norah. But this wonder of innervisions takes you even higher, breaking new ground. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Playlist Picks: 'Running', 'Alone With My Thoughts', 'That's Life'.