by

Song of the Day #4,960: ‘Waiting On a Miracle’ – Stephanie Beatriz

Stephanie Beatriz, best-known as a husky-voiced no-nonsense detective on Brooklyn Nine Nine, plays Mirabel Madrigal, the gift-deprived lead character of Disney’s Encanto. She turns in a delightful, charming voice performance.

Her singing chops, on the other hand, are a bit shakier. That’s most evident in today’s SOTD, ‘Waiting On a Miracle,’ the classic “I want” song you find in every Disney animated film. Think The Little Mermaid‘s ‘Part of Your World,’ Mulan‘s ‘Reflection,’ or Moana‘s ‘How Far I’ll Go.’

Continue reading →

by

Song of the Day #4,959: ‘The Family Madrigal’ – Encanto cast

I still have a handful of movies to watch before I can wrap up my definitive top ten of 2021 and start spinning out some blog posts about last year on the big screen.

But I didn’t want to let a certain pop culture moment go unmentioned, so I’m dedicating this week to the music of Disney’s Encanto.

The animated film’s soundtrack, which features eight songs by Lin Manuel Miranda and a couple of dozen instrumental pieces by composer Germaine Franco, currently sits atop the Billboard 200 albums chart, making it only the sixth soundtrack from an animated film to occupy that slot.

Continue reading →

by

Song of the Day #4,958: ‘Tennessee Song’ – Margo Price

Tennessee singer-songwriter Margo Price makes her third appearance on the blog, all for her debut album, 2016’s Midwest Farmer’s Daughter.

The first post marked the release of this album, one I enjoyed very much, and the discovery of a promising new talent. The second post, two years later, bemoaned the fact that I hadn’t listened to Price much at all since first encountering her, and noted that she had recently released a sophomore album.

Continue reading →

by

Song of the Day #4,957: ‘Casino Boogie’ – The Rolling Stones

A deep cut on The Rolling Stones’ classic 1972 album Exile on Main Street, ‘Casino Boogie’ is little more than a throat clearer before the excellent ‘Tumbling Dice.’

If the song seems to make no sense lyrically, that’s by design. Mick Jagger says the band utilized the “cut-up” technique popularized by William S. Burroughs to assemble the verses.

Continue reading →

by

Song of the Day #4,956: ‘Hang On To Your Love’ – Sade

Closing out my look at the year 1984, here’s an album I had forgotten I knew so well: Diamond Life, the debut release by English band Sade (fronted by Nigerian-born Brit Sade Adu).

This release kicked off a 26-year career that saw every album (six in total) achieve multi-Platinum status. Most of those records came out between 1984 and 1992, with eight and 10-year gaps between the final two albums. But through it all, Sade’s smooth jazz meets R&B groove hit a consistent sweet spot.

Continue reading →