I'm just sayin' (part 1)

I am not normally one to use my blog as a place to whine and moan. I am not usually over critical of books, movies, TV shows, etc. that I don't like. I usually just say it wasn't my thing and move on. Occasionally a film is bad enough to get my ire up, and I'll blast away. You know to avoid those. Usually my reviews are positive, or I say nothing at all. Today I'm going to attempt a couple reviews that are just average. Not raves, but not a total panning.

Let me start with Lacey Schwimmer's new single, Love Soundz. I want to start by saying I have been a huge fan and supporter of Lacey since she was competing on SYTYCD. I followed her because she was from Redlands, and that was my home from 1989-2001. I am also a fan of Lacey's brother Benji (that's him with me in my facebook profile pic). Both these talented dancers are now making their way into music. Lacey appeared late last year in the song Red Cup by CashCash. I really enjoyed the upbeat party dance number, even though it was hiphopish, and I am no hip hop fan. Now Lacey's first solo single is out. It is called Love Soundz, and yes, it is as steamy as you might think with that name. Lacey has had a bit of a reputation as a rebel on DWTS, and that naughty side is definitely at the core of this song. It isn't a bad song, but I'm not sure she needed to go this raunchy. The other drawback on the song is am extensive use of electronic voice modulation. This is a very popular tool of record producers to give an interesting sound to a voice, but can also hide vocal weakness. I really thought Lacey's voice was pretty nice on Red Cup, but there is so much modulation on Love Soundz, I can't be sure. So as far as this song goes, I can't say it is great, but I don't hate it. I will wait for the whole CD to come out. Still love Lacey though.
Moving on to a completely different review. Over the past year I have taken to listening to Audiobooks on my way to work. I am currently listening to INKSPELL, the second book in the INKHEART series. The first book, INKHEART was read by Lynne Redgraves, and she was marvelous. INKSPELL is read by Brendan Fraiser, who is a very enjoyable actor, and he played Mo in the INKHEART movie, so he was a logical choice. And I must say, his storytelling voice as he narrates is wonderful. He reads with appropriate speed if there is some action in the sequence, and very slowly in quieter a more thoughtful passages. My problem comes when he is doing character voices. For most of the characters he has a consistent voice, but for a few he fades in and out of accents and tones. Also in scenes with several characters he sometimes seems to lose which character is talking, and Fire-eater will suddenly be talking in Fahr-heed's (sp) voice. And there are a few voices I feel he totally misses the mark on. The big example...the one driving me nuts as I listen... is the voice of the author/story-teller Finolia. The INKHEART books are particularly European in flavor. The scenes and characters in our world are decidedly European. Finolio is an older Italian gentleman (he is a grandfather) but instead of voicing him as an elder man from Italy, Fraiser gives him the accent of a 20-something Italian street thug from New York. I keep waiting for Al Pacino to come out at slap Finolio around. I am enjoying the story, but wish they had stuck with Lynne Redgraves.

Okay, hope I wasn't too negative...I'm just sayin'...