JEFFREY MORGAN’S MEDIA BLACKOUT #636.279!

Tiesto – Just Be (Magic Music) :: Eh, what a maroon. The sticker on the front cover brags that Tiesto’s “The #1 DJ In The World” yet he begins track one with over three minutes of aimlessly anemic synthesized symphonic string music that would make even Jean Michael Jarre cringe with embarrassment. Three minutes? Dude, you lost your bass and drum audience at the 15 second mark. And take a letter, Maria: we like our B&D tracks blended and crossfaded into a single cohesive soundscape, not individually separated. Oh, and one more thing: if you’re going to steal your album cover from Eno’s Before And After Science, then you’d gosh darn well better live up to it instead of dishing out the usual high-hat disco dross clichés.

SIZZLING VIDEO OF THE WEEK – SIDE ONE: The Beatles – Let It Be: Deluxel 35mm Widescreen Stereo Edition (Double D) :: After spending big chunks of change to finally restore the Let It Be movie for public consumption, it figures that Paul and Ringo would then get cold feet and veto its release on the grounds that it makes the band look bad. Which is a nice way of saying that they both watched it and were horrified to find that it makes the bassman look like a domineering boss man and the drummer decidedly comatose.

Luckily you can watch this release instead, which is the most pristine copy you’ll ever find—especially since it includes not only the original thin theatrical soundtrack but a new and vastly improved digital one that’s been synced to the studio stereo multitracks and the original Nagra tapes. The back cover blurb says that the source material is a videotape which was recorded when the film was shown in widescreen format on the BBC back in 1982, but don’t you believe it because the high visual quality says that this came from a good telecine of an original 35mm print. My friend, can you prove otherwise?

SIZZLING VIDEO OF THE WEEK – SIDE TWO: The Beatles – Get Back: The Outtakes (Double D) :: And while you’re at it, make sure that you pick up this definitive two disc collection of Twickenham and Apple outtakes which contains just about everything that you’d want to see, from the infamous Goon Show encounter wherein a smack-smitten Lennon dispenses some timely personal advice to a bathroom-bound Peter Sellers: “Just don’t leave the needles lying around, you know. We’ve got a bad reputation now with John getting busted and that!” to the mixing board moment when the band decides to release “Get Back” as their next 45:

George: Let’s put it out as a single.

John: Okay, let’s knock it off as a single then.

George: What was the last single?

Paul: “Hey Jude.”

George: Let’s finish it off as a single.

Paul: [slyly smiling] Oh yeah?

John: We’ll do “Part Two” on the backside.

Paul: [slyly smiling] I’m easy, lads.

Ringo: zzzzzzzz

Be seeing you!