Cultural Detritus, Reviews, and Commentary
Link to an interview of David Harvey conducted by Vincent Emanuele:
“Rebel Cities, Urban Resistance and Capitalism: A Conversation with David Harvey”
Harvey is best in these sort of interview settings. It is great that the conversation touches on questions of culture and symbols — though there is not much depth here beyond simply raising those issues. It is worth noting that Pierre Bourdieu and others have offered substantial analytic tools to bolster theory in that area.
Aretha Franklin – Aretha Arrives Atlantic SD 8150 (1967)
Often viewed as an album rushed out by Atlantic Records to capitalize on the success of Aretha’s breakout (and still best) album I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You. But, really, this is a very solid second-tier Franklin album. It starts off inauspiciously with “Satisfaction” and “You Are My Sunshine.” Some of the other songs feature adequate but rather uninspired string arrangements. Yet “Never Let Me Go” is an effective and modern ballad, and “96 Tears” works pretty well even though a garage rock rave-up hardly would seem like a good song for Aretha to sing. And, of course, the closer “Baby, I Love You” is one of the single best things Aretha ever did.
Stevie Wonder – Talking Book Tamla T-319L (1972)
Two killer songs: “You Are the Sunshine of My Life” and “Superstition.” Those are among the most memorable soul recordings of the early 1970s. “I Believe (When I Fall in Love It Will Be Forever)” is a good song too. The rest? Well, there is definitely a lot of pleasant filler, though some of this (“Big Brother,” “Blame It on the Sun”) is maybe even sub-par. As full-length albums go, I find this one a bit overrated. His next two are his best and the one before this is also better. Still, it’s hard to beat those two killer songs!