Music

In Case You Missed It

by Nick Pittman

As the year closes, take note of these entertainment items you may have overlooked.

Lafayette native Skye Isaac, far left, backs Solange Knowles during a recent Saturday Night Live performance.

Big Moves for Skye
Last year, former Gator Girl Skye Issac put out a barely there CD. While it showed she had a ways to go, it also showed she had promise.

As this year comes to a close, she is closing the gap between the two. After appearing on BET’s “Chasing Destiny,” she was contacted by Solange Knowles’ people and asked to back the chart-topper on the Nov. 5 edition of Saturday Night Live.

Now based out of Los Angeles, the Lafayette native says the experience of appearing on SNL with Beyonce’s sister was “electrifying and awesome!”

Thomas in the ‘Mirror’
If you have discovered the Netflix original Black Mirror – the anthology show that is terrifying not because of gore, machete-wielding maniacs or ghosts but because of its dim projections of what life will be like in just about 20 minutes – there’s a haunting song sung by three different and seemingly unrelated characters in its way-too-short three seasons (season three should be floating around in Recently Added). Characters sing, “You can blame me, try to shame me and still I’ll care for you. You can run around, even put me down, still I’ll be there for you.”

It’s actually 1964’s “Anyone Who Knows What Love Is (Will Understand),” an Irma Thomas song co-written by Randy Newman. It first appears via a character auditioning for a talent show in season one’s “Fifteen Million Merits” (the end credits feature New Orleans’ own Thomas – and Lafayette favorite – in all her original glory). It comes back in a karaoke performance in season two’s “White Christmas” and via another character in season three’s “Men Against Fire.”

The show’s creator, Charlie Brooker, told “Thrillest, it was brought back in season two, because “... it does sort of nest the whole thing together in some kind of artistic universe, to sound wanky for a moment.”

In a series loaded with meaning, what does it all mean? That’s not easy to answer other than people of the near future – despite their shallow ways, self-centered behavior, vapidity, absence of morality and ultra tech crutches – apparently have good taste in music.

The Weary Blues
If you missed out on the Weary Boys reunion show at the Blue Moon, it is ok. Who can blame you? Chances are that if you remember the Boys – or have very foggy memories of them – you also have kids and can’t always make it to the honky-tonk shows.

Fret not, the Boys CD Early Years is a good substitute – as close as anything could every come to seeing them live. Early Years opens with a couple of ferocious live cuts from one of their prison shows at Angola before segueing into some early studio work – such as a cover of “Rock Island Line.” Other classic Weary material “Worried Man Blues” and “Pauline” make this a ghost of good times past.

However, the CD is currently only available at their rare reunion shows, a problem Mario Matteoli says will be fixed in the spring when they launch a website that will sell the CD.