Mariah Carey - She's No Angel, But Pretty Close
"All my life, my saving grace, the thing that kept me steady, was listening to music; on the radio, on records or my mother's singing."
That's the famously voluptuous singing superstar Mariah Carey, with whom I had a brief conversation the other day.
I was the last of Mariah's duties that long afternoon; she'd given about 19 interviews to promote her new album, "Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel."
The star sounded game, but understandably beat. Her voice was a little ragged. I said, "Mariah, I feel bad making you talk anymore!" She laughed, "Liz, I'm fine. I'm actually lying down as we speak. Listen, this is a lot better than other things I could be doing to push this album."
Even though our super-fast chat was supposed to be confined to her music – and I'd been sent a little list of specific questions ("elements" as they call them) – I had to immediately compliment Mariah on her small, unglamorous-but-pivotal-social-worker role in the movie "Precious." And I told her I'd also liked her in the two-guys-one-gal-on-the-road movie "Tennessee." (Both these films emerged under the aegis of producer/director Lee Daniels, who is a great Mariah admirer. "Precious" is being talked up as Oscar bait!)
Even though she was cruelly excoriated for 2001's "Glitter," Mariah says she's encouraged by her recent efforts and would love to continue a movie career. And she should. Lord knows she's ready to go the limit. There are not too many sex symbols who would agree to appear as Mariah does in "Precious." (It's not a fake nose or strange teeth or padding, Mariah just took off her makeup and allowed a pitiless camera and harsh lighting to underscore her performance.)
We did speak of her album, which is already a big Billboard hit. "Memoirs" is a "concept" piece, with a beginning, middle and end. The theme is relationships and all its variations from infatuation to bitter ending to hope for tomorrow. The disc builds to a powerhouse climax with Mariah's cover of the old Foreigner hit, "I Want to Know What Love Is." (This is the album's only track not written by Mariah herself.) She says of this, "I wanted to respect the original version. I didn't want to make it something unrecognizable. But I did incorporate my own vision." (This vision includes a soaring gospel choir and the full use of Mariah's multi-octave pipes. You sure do know what love is when Mariah gets done with it!)
I asked Mariah if the album's title, "Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel," was in any way autobiographical.
"Ha! I'm no angel, Liz. Really, it's a statement to young girls – but actually to everybody – about how we are all normal and imperfect. We are not what is on the cover of magazines or what we appear to be in flattering press releases. It's OK to be who you are, no matter who you are – and to love accordingly. Also, the album was a way of working out some stuff, glancing back and saying, 'What the hell was I thinking?'"
Well, what was she thinking? "Oh, I'm not going down the list, which is really rather small. At the beginning of my career, I had to be very straightforward in my work and my image. But I have a lot of humor and zest for living and imagination. Once I broke free, I allowed myself to be who I was, who I wanted to be, as a woman and as an artist. This kind of album, with the great collaborations I have with Tricky Stewart and The Dream never could have been possible as my old self." (Mariah didn't need to put a fine point on it. She was clearly referring to her infamous marriage to Tommy Mottola, the music mogul who discovered, elevated and eventually smothered her.) Also impossible back in the day was Mariah's wicked tongue-in-cheek celebration of her sexiness – high heels in a snow drift! The old Rodgers and Hammerstein song, "I Enjoy Being a Girl," suits Mariah to a T. A wet tee.
Will Mariah tour to promote this CD? "Hmm... I really want to think about what I want to do next, how best to use my time, my life." Her life now includes an apparently blissful marriage to Nick Cannon. Tours rip months and years out of a performer's life. I believe Mariah has a different plan. At the very least, she needs time to also promote her new fragrance, "Forever."
Before I let Mariah go – well, before her handler wrenched us apart: "Your 15 minutes are up!" – I told her how much I love her delightful 1994 Christmas album. This disc includes her own composition, "All I Want for Christmas Is You."
"Oh, thank you! When I realize how that song has become a part of Christmas tradition, it's crazy to me, thrilling, humbling. You know, I didn't want to do a Christmas album. It was Tommy's idea. And I was all, 'Please I'm a young girl. People don't do Christmas albums until they are, like, 50. Some sort of last resort.' But he insisted. 'No, no. Do it. It'll be a big hit. So I did and it was, and I'll always be grateful for that."
Mariah paused and said, "I shouldn't tell you this, but I'm going to record another Christmas song, with my mother. I'm going to sing in my style, and she is going to sing operatic, which is her style." (Patricia Carey, Mariah's mom, is a former opera singer and vocal coach.)
"Mariah, when you say you shouldn't tell me, do you mean you've told me something I can't print?"
"Well, Liz. Would it be good for you if you printed it?"
"Of course it would be. But..."
"OK, then go ahead."
OK, then, go ahead. Words to cherish from a star, and words you don't hear much but from the unique likes of Miss Mariah Carey.
- Thanks to Liz Smith - WowOWow/MariahDaily
At long last, my review of Memoirs
(Also published on PMCF Site)
(Written after waking up remembering it's already a Monday - Oct 5th - and I haven't got my pen busy for it)
Mariah Carey has left pop music for good.
That comes as to no surprise to me, however, as she has gone totally R&B/Soul ever since she recorded "Vanishing," "You're so cold," and "Slipping away" earlier in her career.
In her new album, "Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel," Carey has masterfully crafted a genuine musical work that sounds nothing like her previous catalog (and she has a long list). You'd wonder if there'll ever be a rest day for Carey to be irrelevant. If there is, she doesn't show it.
Carey's blood runs with pure musical artistry that is unequalled in her generation. The music and voice were on point in each track. The highest notes are all over each track.
The lead track "Betcha Gon Know" caught me off guard. It's a rather ridiculous track gravitating towards a TV scene from CSI minus the bloody part. The rawness of emotions were so real. The song got me on for a good few days. I can literally create a beautiful music video for this track (if time permits!).
"H.A.T.E.U.," on the other hand, was flantastically permutated. There was something haunting within the track that keeps you coming back. Carey's vocal layers were adequately placed.
Special mention goes to "The Impossible" which I love grooving to like I was in my latin tango dance class carefully whamming it up. The song is excruciatingly beautiful. It could have had a faster ending for the sake of tango, but Carey kept it low key to protect the album concept. Yes, Carey is humble, except for the satirical parade that is the "Up Out my Face (Reprise)."
"Angels Cry" was the first song I listened to when I got the album as it got me excited from the faint concert bootleg (from her Las Vegas concert back in September). The powerful track resents how human angels can be imperfect but still take flight ... and soar.
Carey's voice was somehow restrained to give way to full vocal gymnastics on the last track, the Foreigner remake "I want to know what love is."
From "Angel (Prelude)" down to "Angels Cry" going to "Languishing" and ending in "Love" reminds me of 1999's "Rainbow" where the songs were "linked" together to create a wholistic sound.
Overall, it was a generous revelation that Carey could still create a distinct musical sound that is sonically coherent well after almost 20 years in the businessness. She managed to put her signature sound on it, too, without having each track sound the same.
What is surprising is that her comedic bone (first heard on last year's "Touch My Body") was again all over the place ("Obsessed," "Up Out My Face"). Carey infuses comedy effortlessly like no other. And it's not shallow.
"Memoirs" completed an imperfect journey to seek for a repackaged version of this album. It's definitely a musical treat which would be burning my player up for a good few months (even years), for sure.
Get the 14 Remixes:
Track list:
01 I Want to Know What Love is Donnie Hotwhee 03:03
02 I Want to Know What Love is Low Sunday Tem 03:14
03 I Want to Know What Love is Moto Blanco Cl 03:22
04 I Want to Know What Love is Cutmores Radi 03:06
05 I Want to Know What Love is Chew Fu Radio 03:50
06 I Want to Know What Love is Chriss Ortega 03:34
07 I Want to Know What Love is Nu Addiction C 03:28
08 I Want to Know What Love is Moto Blanco Cl 06:51
09 I Want to Know What Love is Cutmores Club 06:42
10 I Want to Know What Love is Chew Fu Club M 06:01
11 I Want to Know What Love is Chriss Ortega 06:03
12 I Want to Know What Love is Nu Addiction C 06:52
13 I Want to Know What Love is Moto Blanco Du 06:21
14 I Want to Know What Love is (Nu Addiction 08:41
(Reposted)
AFTER a quarter of a century, exporter and designer Rene Alcala finally got to apply what he learned in college.
Alcala majored in Tourism, Hotel and Restaurant Management at University of Santo Tomas, but by a twist of fate, he ended up designing mirrors that are exported to the West.
As a sideline, he and his enterprising friends decided to invest in a little restaurant, Oma, a hole in the wall in Scout Fuentebella off T. Morato, Quezon City. Originally a beer joint whose focal point was a billiards table, the nook was transformed by design consultant Jim Tan into a cozy place – exotic hardwoods contrasting with reflections of Alcala’s mosaic mirrors with blacklip shells.
The bar is a montage of mirrors and mollusk surfaces, balanced by large mirror frames of the same materials on the opposite wall. But Alcala didn’t want Oma to look like his showroom. He insists the star is the food, created by the chef, Kristina Benipayo.
Oma means “grandmother” in German. Alcala claims the cuisine is Pinoy food with a twist – popular restaurant dishes with local touches.
Personal stamp
Benipayo studied at the International School for Culinary Arts and Hotel Management and has worked in a restaurant and resort. She puts her personal stamp in Oma by combining contemporary cuisine with family recipes.
For Caesar salad and pasta carbonara, Benipayo substitutes adobo flakes for bacon, for added crunch. Assorted green vegetable salads with potatoes and carrots are laced with crisp flaps of luncheon meat chunks, tender mango bits and matching mango dressing for tartness.
The much-vaunted malunggay is used in the breads and pesto sauce without the bitterness. It is combined with cream cheese as dip for the baked mussels, or made into pesto butter for the Chicken a la Kiev.
Benipayo pays homage to her Bicolano heritage with fried adobo drenched in coconut milk, a local interpretation of chicken roulade stuffed with longganisa, or native sausage slathered in rosemary cream sauce.
The grilled pork is smothered with laing sauce, prepared the traditional way with thoroughly cleaned taro leaves simmered in coconut milk. She uses the second extraction of the milk, which has been drained of excess oil. Another heirloom recipe is lechon kawali with shrimp paste, tomato and garlic, modernized by the plating.
In the nasi goreng, the Indonesian dish made of fish and shrimps topped with fried egg, Benipayo replaces the topping with scrambled egg and fried sardines.
Oma is proud of its Philippine wagyu beef, sourced from Bukidnon, which costs only P1,900, as well as the Batangas tenderloin. Instead of baked potato, the siding is baked kamote or local tuber, which is sweet and dry.
Noodles with olive oil and white wine sauce are topped with local mussels, fried eggplant adobo or mixed with the garlicky Lucban longganisa and the sweet and hefty Lucban sausage.
The simple pesto pasta is rendered with malunggay sauce and made flamboyant with grilled chicken breast. Another Pinoy comfort food, corned beef, is simmered to get its texture and tossed with the noodles. The paella pasta is a medley of chorizo, chicken, squid, clams and shrimps in white wine sauce.
Alcala, Benipayo and other investors – Leo Tiopes and Marina Martinez, who work at San Miguel Corporation’s Information Technology Service, and Tina Templo who works at a BPO – still go through regular food tests to fine-tune Oma’s signature taste: modern, clean-tasting with a touch of rustic.
Oma is at 85 Scout Fuentebella, QC; tel. 3325690.
CHECK THE NEW TRACK
"Skydiving"
Produced by Timbaland
On the iTunes Memoirs LP download, when you click "Play Album," it plays all of the songs with Mariah-themed screensavers. One of the themes is a journal where all of the track names are written fading in and out, and along with all of the tracks listed, the word "Skydiving" appears (see photo). It turns out "Skydiving" is the Timbaland-produced song which did not make the album cut. The song, however, will be included exclusively as track #2 on Tapemasters Inc.'s The Future Of R&B Vol. 29.
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