Latest news with #RayofLight
Graziadaily
04-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Graziadaily
‘And Just Like That' Had Its Flaws, But We'll Miss Our Old Friend Carrie
'What's going to happen to the woman?' asked Carrie's neighbour Duncan Reeves - one of those slightly disquieting, cerebral, 50-something British men with a Margaret Thatcher thing - and Carrie Bradshaw's latest (and *sobs* last) love interest. 'The woman' being the subject of Carrie's recent, unexpected move from sex guru to awks podcaster to author of historical fiction. Just one of the bizarre, if insanely watchable plot twists in And Just Like That season three. 'Do you have the ending yet?' Well, does she? Last weekend, prior to the tenth episode of the current season of AJLT , showrunner Michael Patrick King announced some good news for fans. There would be two more episodes than expected. 'Fans', in the case of And Just Like That , is a broad church. It takes in everyone from those who genuinely love the tales of Carrie and co., to those who watch despite shivering at key storyline signifiers, like 'LTW', 'ghost sperm' or 'karaoke'. Then MPK announced some bad news: after episode 12, season three airs, Carrie Bradshaw's story will come to an end. Gulp. Mostly, we have watched And Just Like That through clenched fists, brows furrowed. But the key word here is 'watched'. And Just Like That is one of those televisual anomalies. The more incredulous the storylines get, the more it seems to settle in viewers' hearts. As a female friend texted at the climax of what can only be referred to as 'the silver catsuit episode' (IYKYK) – 'just because your best friend goes stark raving bonkers doesn't mean she isn't still your best friend.' Really, the end of And Just Like That is only the end of Carrie Bradshaw. Miranda ended long ago, when she was mysteriously transposed from the zenith of Manhattan power-broker womanhood, into a homeless intern. Charlotte is now Martha Stewart - not just on steroids but told through a psychedelic prism that intimates a writers' room on hard drugs. Samantha, some say prudently, was gone before the first season. And episode one killed off the love of Carrie's life, Mr Big, bringing on an unexpected PR crisis at the consumer home gym giant, Peloton. As we write, And Just Like That still has zero Emmy nominations, not even in the technical categories. Since her 1998 debut, soundtracked by a jaunty theme-tune, pasted onto the side of a bus careening down Broadway, 'knowing good sex', Carrie Bradshaw established herself as Manhattan's first lady of letters. She was the inverse of Madonna's 'Ray of Light' era, also released that summer. As Madonna discovered her spiritual side, Kabbalah bracelets and the redemptive power of motherhood, Ms Bradshaw rejected the lot, glorying in tasteful consumerism and the power of a good cocktail, inventing an irresistible buy-your-way-to-the-perfect-you identity, conjured by a few bon mots scripted on her vintage Olivetti typewriter. Madonna might've harboured the darker secrets of life, but Carrie reminded you that, isn't it fab, also, to have great hair just in case the next hookup is sitting round the corner, on a tattered banquette in Pastis? Since then, Carrie Bradshaw has been, arguably, the most memorable fictional heroine of her age. Virginia Woolf, if the Bloomsbury Group met in the accessories department of Saks Fifth Avenue, perhaps. Carrie Bradshaw was shoes, sex and soliloquies. She had a kind of life we all desired, mistakes and all. I always thought it was absolutely brilliant that they gave her no family members. So clever. Imagine all that stress and anxiety, just – poof! – gone. I once asked the actress Sarah Jessica Parker if she was proud of the number of women who became writers because of her Writers! she laughed. If she had a penny for the amount of New Yorkers who told her daily they'd moved to the city because of her... Even at her most divisive – sauntering through Union Square in an outsized tam' o shanter, 'making it work' with a contemptible man who wants to commit only to relationship by postcard, pronouncing the word 'lover' – Carrie has been someone we can safely lean on in times of trouble. She magicked from nowhere the plausibility and success of lifestyle. When chaos was everywhere, there was always Carrie Bradshaw, nailing the little stuff that affects our lives largest. For now, farewell old friend. Of course, unless they kill off Carrie Bradshaw – and at this stage, one wouldn't quite put anything past the people writing this stuff – any permanent ending to Carrie Bradshaw should be taken with a pinch of salt. In 20 years' time, surely the three pals could return as a kind of Golden Girls du nos jours . In the meantime, we must wish our definitive 21st century heroine adieu, in the recent manner to which she is familiar:
Irish Independent
01-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
After Madonna's Veronica Electronica release, here are 10 of the greatest remix albums of all time
For hardcore Madonna fans, it was seen as the great lost album. Veronica Electronica was originally set to be released in 1998, a remix companion to her reinvention album, Ray of Light.
See - Sada Elbalad
26-07-2025
- Entertainment
- See - Sada Elbalad
Madonna Drops Album "Veronica Electronica": Stream It Now
Yara Sameh "Veronica Electronica" has finally entered the zone. After 27 years, Madonna's long-rumored "Ray of Light" remix album became a reality on Friday. The project features rare and unreleased edits of songs from her 1998 masterpiece. Remixers on the project include "Ray of Light" co-creator William Orbit and clubs kings Peter Rauhofer, Sasha, BT and Victor Calderone. It also includes the original demo of 'Gone, Gone, Gone,' a previously unreleased recording co-produced by Madonna and Rick Nowels, who co-wrote several Ray of Light tracks alongside her in the late '90s. The rest of the tracklist includes 'Drowned World/Substitute For Love,' 'Ray Of Light,' 'Skin,' 'Nothing Really Matters,' 'Sky Fits Heaven,' 'Frozen,' and 'The Power Of Good-Bye.' Released in February of 1998, "Ray of Light" remained 78 weeks on the Billboard 200, peaking at No. 2. (The Titanic soundtrack hindered it from achieving the top spot.) The record generated four Hot 100 hits with the title track, 'Frozen,' 'The Power of Goodbye' and 'Nothing Really Matters' and won four Grammy awards, including the trophy for best pop album, in 1999. "Ray of Light" was a major moment for electronic music's mainstream crossover, with Madonna being the first major pop artist to do an entirely electronic album and thus helping push '90s club culture onto radio and into pop culture. While "Veronica Electronica" was originally intended to be a remix companion to "Ray of Light," it was shelved due to the success of the album, which ultimately sold more than 16 million copies. Stream "Veronica Electronica" below. read more New Tourism Route To Launch in Old Cairo Ahmed El Sakka-Led Play 'Sayidati Al Jamila' to Be Staged in KSA on Dec. 6 Mandy Moore Joins Season 2 of "Dr. Death" Anthology Series Don't Miss These Movies at 44th Cairo Int'l Film Festival Today Amr Diab to Headline KSA's MDLBEAST Soundstorm 2022 Festival Arts & Culture Mai Omar Stuns in Latest Instagram Photos Arts & Culture "The Flash" to End with Season 9 Arts & Culture Ministry of Culture Organizes four day Children's Film Festival Arts & Culture Canadian PM wishes Muslims Eid-al-Adha News Israeli-Linked Hadassah Clinic in Moscow Treats Wounded Iranian IRGC Fighters Arts & Culture "Jurassic World Rebirth" Gets Streaming Date News China Launches Largest Ever Aircraft Carrier Videos & Features Tragedy Overshadows MC Alger Championship Celebration: One Fan Dead, 11 Injured After Stadium Fall Lifestyle Get to Know 2025 Eid Al Adha Prayer Times in Egypt Arts & Culture South Korean Actress Kang Seo-ha Dies at 31 after Cancer Battle Business Egyptian Pound Undervalued by 30%, Says Goldman Sachs Sports Get to Know 2025 WWE Evolution Results News "Tensions Escalate: Iran Probes Allegations of Indian Tech Collaboration with Israeli Intelligence" News Flights suspended at Port Sudan Airport after Drone Attacks
Scotsman
25-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
Album reviews: Madonna Tim Minchin Paul Vickers and the Leg
Sign up to our Arts and Culture newsletter, get the latest news and reviews from our specialist arts writers Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Madonna: Veronica Electronica (Warner Records) ★★★ Mabel: Mabel (Polydor Records) ★★★ Tim Minchin: TimMinchinTimeMachine (BMG) ★★ Paul Vickers and the Leg: Winter at Butterfly Lake (PX4M) ★★★★ Over recent years, Madonna has been re-issuing some of her best-loved albums on limited edition silver vinyl. True Blue and Like a Prayer are already part of her Silver Collection; now her long-rumoured Ray of Light remix album joins the club with the playful title Veronica Electronica. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Madonna | Ricardo Gomes There is ample competition for the accolade of best Madonna album but Ray of Light, released in 1998, must be in the running for its moody pop atmospheres, euphoric dance tracks, immaculate production by William Orbit and majestic string arrangements by Glasgow-based composer Craig Armstrong. These rare and unreleased remixes of most of the album tracks were originally intended for a companion album, but plans were shelved when Ray of Light took off, zephyr-like, rebooting Madonna's career for the new millennium. Veronica Electronica features new edits of remixes by the likes of Orbit, the late Peter Rauhofer, Sasha, BT and Victor Calderone, who may not be able to improve on the joyful source material but can tap into its renewing spirit. The title track is already an ecstatic invocation. The Sasha Twilo Mix Edit adds some spacey bells and galactic whistles, while Peter & Victor's Collaboration Remix Edit of Skin - don't those titles just trip off the tongue? - is both banging and hypnotic. The Club 69 Speed Mix of Nothing Really Matters introduces counter rhythms to the bassy beats, while Caldarone turbocharges Sky Fits Heaven with propulsive carnival percussion and irresistible electro vibrations, and Fabien Waltmann's Good God Mix Edit of The Power of GoodBye adds a fidgety thrum over which Armstrong's original swirling string arrangement soars. As enjoyable as these reinterpretations are, they are no substitute for some quality new material from Madge herself. The best she can muster here is an unheard track from the original sessions called Gone Gone Gone on which she offers hymn-like lamentations over floating synthesizers and a robust disco rhythm. Unlike many an unreleased demo, this mesmeric dance pop tune deserves to see the (ray of) light of day. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Mabel | Simone Beyene Brit Award-winner Mabel's latest released comprises nine 'unfiltered' tracks recorded in her home studio in recent months. It's pretty repetitive fare in which she wrangles with positive and negative aspects of relationships, retrofitted to present a 'toxic love letter to my ten years in the industry'. Opening track Jan 19 is set at the moment when the scales are falling from her eyes. Elsewhere, she shakes a manicured finger at some disrespectful behaviour on the low-slung R&B of Run Me Down, appeals for a kinder, less judgmental approach on Love Me Gentle and advocates for people over possessions on Benz, folding in reggaeton, drum'n'bass and slow jam synths along the way. Tim Minchin | Contributed Tim Minchin made his Edinburgh Fringe debut in 2005, arriving as an unknown cabaret pianist and leaving a comedy star. Since then he has penned global musical theatre smash Matilda among other big ticket achievements. In contrast, his latest project is a personal excavation of songs written in his 'prolific-but-obscure twenties' that arguably should have stayed there, from underwhelming ballad Understand it to the jazz lounge noodling of Moment of Bliss. He crosses from sentimental songwriting to rollicking satire on Song of a Masochist but former Fringe favourites You Grow On Me and Not Perfect fall flat without the bearpit energy of a Gilded Balloon audience. Longtime Edinburgh-based collaborators Paul Vickers and the Leg present Winter at Butterfly Lake, a 'heartbreak suite' which is conventional only by their standards. Vickers' voice and Pete Harvey's string arrangements are powerful opposing forces but they style it out on the demented grungey bluegrass of Optical Illusions and chunky chamber pop of Contents of the Earth. CLASSICAL King of Kings: JS Bach (Chandos) ★★★ Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The conductor Sir Andrew Davis was famous for his hearty chuckles and precious grammar school wit. Such eccentricities live on in his orchestrations of Bach organ music, ranging from the bombastic to the intricately beautiful, as witnessed in this part-posthumous album by the BBC Philharmonic. Davis, who died last year, lived to conduct four of the tracks; Martyn Brabbins stepped in to complete the project. The organ loft was where Davis began his musical life, none so lofty as his stint as organ scholar at King's College Cambridge in the 1960s, and you imagine - certainly from his treatment here of the big Preludes, Toccatas, Fantasias and Fugues - his taste was shamelessly eclectic. Where it works - the surreal orchestral imaginings of the monumental Passacaglia and Fugue for instance - Davis' playfulness tickles the senses, and the Chorale Preludes are mostly a confection of delights. Novelty value is the key selling point. Ken Walton JAZZ Marianne McGregor: Make Believe (Self Released) ★★★★
The Guardian
25-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Madonna: Veronica Electronica review – Ray of Light rarities range from perfect to perfunctory
It's hard to overstate the impact of Ray of Light, Madonna's seventh album. Released in 1998, it totally reshaped Madonna's career, embracing trip-hop, electronica and Britpop and essentially proving to an unfriendly public that she was one of pop's great auteurs. It spawned one of her biggest singles – the haunting power ballad Frozen – and its title track is still a staple of radio and DJ playlists. In the past few years, many of contemporary and underground pop's most significant names – including Caroline Polachek, Addison Rae, a.s.o., Shygirl and FKA twigs – have referenced Ray of Light, whether directly or indirectly. It's a fool's errand to try to make a case for the best or most significant Madonna album – she has at least five strong contenders – but if there's a consensus pick, it's Ray of Light. Which is why the announcement of Veronica Electronica, a full-length Ray of Light remix album, was met with such hysteria from fans earlier this year. Madonna has spoken at length over the years about both Veronica the character – in true Madonna fashion, Veronica stems from a vaguely contradictory concept in which she is both a girl dancing at a club and, somehow, 'medieval' – and the album, which she intended to release after Ray of Light but ended up shelving. For diehards, the promised record is something of a holy grail – never mind that this long-awaited release only contains two truly new songs, one of which, an old demo titled Gone Gone Gone, has been floating around on the internet for years. Even so, it's hard to deny the simple pleasures that can be derived from hearing some all-time great Madonna remixes cut down to radio length and sequenced like the original Ray of Light. Drowned World/Substitute for Love sounds great taken out of its original glacial trip-hop context and turned into a DayGlo acid rager by BT and Sasha; the emotional ambiguities of the original song are replaced with warm positivity, and you can easily imagine the song soundtracking the final minutes of a raging house party as the sun begins to rise. Other tracks, such as Peter and Victor's remix of Skin – the other new song here – take an opposite tack; they heighten Skin's innate moodiness with a steely, exploratory techno beat punctuated by big, sharp breaks, turning the original track into something tweaky and unsettled. As is often the case with remix records, there are moments on Veronica Electronica that feel perfunctory – namely, the Club 69 remix of Nothing Really Matters. Perhaps any remix of the original song will always be held to a higher standard, given its status as one of the only out-and-out club tracks on Ray of Light, but unlike many of the remixes on the album, it feels as if there's no relationship between the source material and the rework here, aside from Madonna's vocal, which is looped to the point of irritation. It's frustrating when people claim to 'hate remixes', as if you can put a blanket statement on an entire artform, but this kind of remix may make you sympathise with the sentiment. Fabien's Good God mix of The Power of Good-Bye, on the other hand, represents all the potential of a curio project like this: a bizarrely minimal drum'n'bass rework of one of Madonna's best ballads, it finds enormous power in the conflict between Fabien's increasingly frenetic drums and Madonna's serene, sorrowful vocal. It's a surprisingly appropriate lead-in to Gone Gone Gone, a song so brilliantly weird that you really can understand why it was left off the original album. It is, essentially, a wistful breakup ballad set to a squelchy electro beat – a surreal tonal clash that hardly gels with Ray of Light's placid waters, but which gives a surprising amount of insight into Madonna's creative state at the time: here is one of the biggest stars in the world, in her creative prime, throwing anything at the wall to see what sticks. For that peek behind the curtain alone, Veronica Electronica is worth the price of admission.
