Linescratching Post for the week of April 11, 2011

Vol 1 No. 7, Week of April 11, 2011

In this issue: Colby Miller requests to entertain you, Sugar Ray meets Provo, John Hunstman turns out to be a “Prog”ressive, Mayan Fox heals the world and makes it a better place, mean (but true!) rumors about David Archuleta, Ken Jennings on the Book of Mormon musical, Jennifer Thomas, Idiot Glee, Alan Sparhawk, and more!

Linescratching Post for the week of April 4, 2011

Vol 1 No. 6, Week of April 4, 2011

In this issue: Full House meets Low, a hot new music video director on the scene, Fictionist full of win, Idiot Glee gets his limey on, Yo Gabba Gabba get Spiritualized, David Archuleta, Pearl and the Beard, Donny and Marie, Neon Trees and more more more!

The Linescratching Post for the week of March 7, 2011

Vol 1 No. 3, Week of March 7, 2011

In this issue: SCANDAL EDITION! Ken Jennings defies electoral consensus in a forbidden fantasy! Mayan Fox gets me stonkered! Colby Miller gives away the milk AND the cow for free! Alan Sparhawk unleashes his retribution! The Neon Trees meet Glee! The Steelwells win an award (uh, a scandalous award?) All this, plus Yo Gabba Gabba might get canceled, Fictionist compete with food delivery for attention from BYUTV, and an obligatory Archuleta Army update!

David Archuleta – The Other Side of Down review

The Other Side of Down is the latest offering from LDS singer and American Idol alumni, David Archuleta.  Being LDS, a musician, engineer, and producer may qualify me to critique this album, but my greatest qualification might actually be that I am the father of 3 young girls who fit a significant demographic portion of his fan base.  Also,  I’ve had the wonderful opportunity to hear David sing live, in a very “up close and personal”, accapella performance  – so I’ve seen his talent in its most raw and simple form, and was eager to compare that to the production of his newest album.

David’s producers have tried to squeeze him into a radio-friendly, tween-compatible, pop format.   For the most part, they’ve succeeded, but stylistically this album feels just a bit “forced” at times.  Sure, it fits the format in many ways – catchy melodies, electronic beats, loads of synth sounds, lots of layering and production quality, and of course the terribly over-used “telephone” sounding effect on vocal delays and overdubs.   But there are noticable differences between this album and many of the cookie-cutter masses.

David Archuleta releases third album

Archuleta fans can rejoice yet again. David Archuleta released his third album, entitled The Other Side of Down, on October 5th. Reviews so far have generally been positive. The album is available on iTunes HERE.

I’m completely willing to accept reviews of the album to be published here on Linescratchers.  If you enjoy the album, send me a review at linescratchers@gmail.com .  Enjoy.

Gladys Knight and David Archuleta to perform July 4th show in D.C.

Both Gladys Knight and David Archuleta are scheduled to perform at the annual “A Capitol Fourth” show in Washington, D.C. on July 4th.  A Capitol Fourth will be celebrating its 30th year of July 4th shows.  It will be shown on PBS at 8:00 p.m. that night.  David and Gladys are both devout members of the LDS Church, and seeing them both performing the same show will be quite a treat for Church members.  Especially Church members whose favorite 4th of July activity is sitting at home and watching PBS.

Now if we could only get Anthony Mather up there…

…we would really have an odd LDS combination.

David Archuleta – Chords of Strength review

I don’t get opera.

That isn’t to say I don’t appreciate certain elements of opera, or understand its importance, or get why I think other people like it. I just don’t really get it myself. It’s the wide vibrato and wandering recitatives maybe, or perhaps it has something to do with suspension of disbelief. All I know is, when I took a humanities class at BYU-Idaho, I was determined to “get” opera. We watched clips from The Magic Flute, Aida, and Wozzeck, which I believe gave me a pretty good cross-section of what opera is capable of, and so I checked out a stage production video of The Magic Flute, determined to watch, appreciate, and ultimately enjoy it. Halfway through the opera I couldn’t stand it anymore and I discovered that I could get the gist of things by fast-forwarding through and just reading the subtitles at the bottom of the screen. I tried. Maybe I’m just too dumb or unrefined, but it was all just lost on me. Maybe I’ll try again someday.

When I wrote a little snarky piece a couple weeks ago about David Archuleta’s memoir Chords of Strength: A Memoir of Soul, Song, and the Power of Perseverance, I was not anticipating the response I would get.  

David Archuleta memoir “Chords of Strength” available June 1st

I recently read an article at the Chicago Tribune about the long-term success (or lack thereof) of singers from American Idol.  It’s a bizarre system to begin with, to be sure – American Idol is in its 9th season, and, as the article points out, it has now churned out 80 would-be stars since it began.  Add my skepticism about the whole venture to the pile, considering that the whole Idol concept is based around contestants singing truncated versions of songs they didn’t write, and being judged by critic-celebrities and text messages from viewers at home.  Not winning first place seems almost preferable, as the fine print of the recording contract one “wins” at the end of the season is actually pretty weak, and gives the artists stiflingly little creative leeway.  Then, these artists are all pushed out into a market that is decreasingly able to support big stars.

Gee, when I put it like that, one might wonder how anyone who graduates from that system could get anywhere at all.  However, there have been a couple notable exceptions, one being baby-faced David Archuleta, a Latter-day Saint from Sandy, and later Murray, Utah.  David has actually sustained a relatively substantial fan base over the last few years, though I think his greatest achievement is undoubtedly his David Archuleta Vietnam fan blog, run by the downright enthusiastic Vietnamese girls Huong, Dung, and (other) Huong.