2023 OSCAR NOMINEES FOR BEST ORIGINAL SONG

In a matter of days, one of these five songs will receive this year's Oscar for Best Original Song, an eclectic bunch of compositions that adds some real intrigue to this category. There are a couple of nominees that created music for two of the biggest box-office hits of 2022 who also happen to be two of today's greatest pop superstars. Lady Gaga contributed the '80's styled, power-ballad, "Hold My Hand" to the long-awaited sequel, "Top Gun: Maverick" which displayed Tom Cruise still has a need for speed. After a few years away from working on new music, Rihanna returned with a mournful ballad for the soundtrack to "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" with the director, Ryan Coogler also nominated for co-writing the song. The teaming of the idiosyncratic artists, David Byrne, Mitski and Ryan Lott of the band, Son Lux was the perfect combination to come up with, "This is a Life" for the absurdist comedy-fantasy, "Everything Everywhere All at Once". Lott along with bandmates, Ian Chang, and Rafiq Bhatia were also recognized for creating the original music score for the film. I'm still shocked that the only nomination that the epic Indian action drama, "RRR" received was for the song, "Naatu Naatu", a Telugu-language song that was used in the high-energy dance sequence which is one of many highlights in this movie. And Diane Warren received her fourteenth nomination for the ballad, "Applause" from the little-seen, anthology film, "Tell It like a Woman". I'm afraid to say Warren will probably have to continue enjoying the Honorary Oscar she received last year.

As for the winner, I think it could be Gaga's "Hold My Hand" if the Academy is feeling safe but the more adventurous "Naatu Naatu" would be the more thrilling selection. Here are the five nominated songs to hear and judge for yourself:

"Applause" from "Tell It like a Woman" - (Music and Lyric by Diane Warren)



"Hold My Hand" from "Top Gun: Maverick" - (Music and Lyric by Lady Gaga and BloodPop)



"Lift Me Up" from "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" - (Music by Tems, Rihanna, Ryan Coogler and Ludwig Goransson; Lyric by Tems and Ryan Coogler)



"Naatu Naatu" from "RRR" - (Music by M.M. Keeravaani; Lyric by Chandrabose)



"This Is A Life" from "Everything Everywhere All at Once" - (Music by Ryan Lott, David Byrne and Mitski; Lyric by Ryan Lott and David Byrne)

DAVID BYRNE: AMERICAN UTOPIA TOUR

While Talking Heads were definitely a band, it was David Byrne who was actually the musical and creative director behind the group. With his former alt-rock band now just a footnote in his career, Byrne has continued to create in his own name and after releasing his seventh solo album, "American Utopia", the sixty-six year old performer is on the road to promote the record.

I caught the L.A. show on August 25th at the Shrine Auditorium (thanks to a dear friend who had an extra ticket) and it was an incredible merging of art performance and rock concert. The stage was completely bare and surrounded by a curtain of long, individual strings. With just a table and chair placed out before the start, Bryne emerged solo with a song from the new album, "Here" where he sat holding a human brain as an unusual visual aide.

He was soon joined by his two highly-energetic background singers/dancers who literally moved throughout the entire show. The rest of the band featuring ten musicians eventually appear, all wearing the same identical gray suits and barefoot like Bryne, while each carrying their own instruments (including drums and percussion) and moving along wirelessly throughout the stage.

After a performance of the British electro-duo, X-Press 2's "Lazy" where Bryne was a guest vocalist, he launched in to some Talking Heads songs with "I, Zimbra" and "Slippery People". I thought for sure he would keep his former band's material to a minimum but I was quite surprised for throughout the night Byrne did quite a few including "This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)", "Blind",  "The Great Curve", "Once In a Lifetime" and "Burning Down The House".

I knew there would obviously be plenty of middle-aged Heads fans but it was nice to see just as many millennials in attendance. Byrne was in great voice and, still utilizing his signature nerdy dance moves, effortlessly kept pace with his younger band as they filled the auditorium with vibrant sounds and positive energy.

Politics did manage to find it's way in to the show but the approach was subtle and low-key. Bryne, who has an organization on tour with him to help people register to vote at each stop, stressed the importance of making change happen not only nationally but at a local level. And during the encore, Bryne does an artist approved, altered cover of Janelle Monáe's "Hell You Talmbout" which shouts out the recent names of people of color that were questionably killed during police interactions.

With the world in such turmoil and conflict, Byrne has stated that the album and the tour was inspired to promote optimism and offer some comfort through song in these trying times. I can honestly say that he has achieved his goal with a concert that featured vivid style, unparalleled creativity and great music.

NEW SOUNDS

TONI BRAXTON

After spending much of her time involved with her family on reality television and coping with her own complicated health issues, Toni Braxton returned to music with a well received concept album with Babyface called “Love, Marriage and Divorce” back in 2014. That won the duo a Grammy for Best R&B Album and now she is back out on her own with “Sex & Cigarettes”, the fifty year old singer’s first solo record in eight years. For her eighth studio album, Braxton had a hand on the writing and production on this project and uses that smoky voice to deliver her brand of sensual soul ballads. While the record doesn’t break any new ground, Braxton makes a welcome return by adding some much need old-school spice to contemporary r&b. Have a listen to the second single from the album, “Long As I Live”, a classic tune about heartbreak that the singer does so well:



JACK WHITE

Known for keeping the spirit of pure rock & roll alive and well, Jack White offers a few unexpected surprises with his latest album, "Boarding House Reach".  The Detroit rocker has shaken up his routine and in the mood to be more experimental with his sound. Inspired by how Michael Jackson created his records by working them out in his head instead of writing ideas down, White attempted to recreate that method. And what he ended up with produced some interesting results with electronic beats, heavy metal, jazz piano and rap all scattered together throughout the record. The latest single, "Over and Over And Over" is one that White had been trying to complete since his days with The White Stripes and at one point was supposed to be recorded by Jay-Z. But White finally had a breakthrough and finished the song to his satisfaction which you can check out here:



DAVID BYRNE

David Byrne has always been a unique visionary in pop music since the early days with his art-rock band, Talking Heads. After leaving the group, the Scotland-born, American-raised sixty-five year old performer went on to further merge art and music as a solo artist. With "American Utopia", Byrne's first album on his own in fourteen years, this recording serves two purposes; one as a quirky musical statement with the esteemed Brian Eno on board to help co-write and produce. And the other is as a soundtrack for his multimedia project called "Reason to be Cheerful" which expresses some reasons to be happy and optimistic in spite of the political strife and environmental problems facing the world. Listen to the first single, "Everybody's Coming To My House" in a great video presentation: