If you are still searching for the Madame X box set FAME Megastore in Amsterdam has quite a few in stock. Unfortunately the CD versions are a lot more limited (3 copies total to be exact).
FAME is located in the Media Markt near Amsterdam Central Station.
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Wat heeft Sneeuwwitje met Johannes Vermeer te maken? En hoe is Michael Jackson met de West Side Story gelinkt? In een reeks van 5 lezingen laat kunstdocent Paul Buijs je de hoeken van lage en hoge cultuur zien. Door middel van verhalen, anekdotes, foto’s en film legt hij connecties tussen de meest uiteenlopende kunstenaars. Een lesje kunstgeschiedenis is er niks bij! MADONNA: Van Monroe glamour naar het nieuwe alter ego MadameX. Madonna verstaat de kunst van een nieuw imago aanmeten maar al te goed. Daarbij maakt zij veelvuldig gebruik van de kunst en filmgeschiedenis. Tamara de Lempicka, Fritz Lang, Horst P. Horst en Liliana Cavani zullen o.a. de revue passeren. Hoe heeft Madonna zich laten inspireren door deze meesters? Welke rol spelen het katholicisme en haar jeugd? Na het bijwonen van deze avond kijk je met een nieuwe en frisse blik naar dit postmodernistisch popicoon.
Are you serious? Effin’ Madonna.
Anytime the Queen of Pop does anything, it warrants paying attention. She’s a journeywoman. She invented this shit. Madame X is an experimental, heavily Latin-influenced record that’s worth visiting. “Medellin” (video below) is an ominously sparse opening track that nevertheless demands your attention. (And that pill she references in the beginning is probably Ambien rather than anything someone is doing in Ibiza; Madonna’s been around the block too many times for such childishness.)
There are also some interesting guest choices, including Quavo (sans Migos) on dancey “Future” and Swae Lee (sans Slim Jxmmi) on midtempo but nevertheless catchy “Crave.” It’s not like anything she’s done before, for better (“Crave”) or worse (the graphic, inexplicably-included mass shooting imagery of the “God Control” video). “Crazy” is a slinking anthem, though it might be accused of landing a bit on the nose in this era of “Hispandering.” There are other brilliant pop moments, and a few truly bizarre ones. But it’s Madonna—she does what she wants and may or may not care what we think.
Before praying at your Madonna shrine, I would assume.
Read more at MarieClaire
The city’s record-breaking WorldPride celebration was capped off Sunday night with a blockbuster performance by the Material Girl.
“This is my gay rite of passage,” wrote one Madonna fan on Twitter, who attended the event.
“We’ve been ready for this for nearly 30 years,” another said, sharing footage of himself as a kid dancing to the song “Vogue.”
Thousands of people gathered for the show — held on “Pride Island” at Pier 97 in Manhattan, where they got into the groove in celebration of the LGBTQ community.
“Madonna ordered me to Pride Island,” an attendee said, sharing pics from the pop star’s waterfront performance.
Frankie Grande, brother of singer Ariana Grande, was also at the event and tweeted: “I’m beyond grateful right now. world pride was everything i could have asked for… celebrated at pride island with @Madonna…w/ my loving boyfriend at my side… & completely SOBER!”
Closing out WorldPride week was said to be a huge honor for the Queen of Pop, who spoke about the opportunity earlier this month.
“It means everything to me,” she told Out magazine. “I’m proud of having been even a small part of fighting for LGBTQ+ equality.”
Millions of people flocked to NYC on Sunday to celebrate 50 years of the gay rights movement and take part in the Pride parade.
More at PageSix
The iconic singer’s performance was one of the most anticipated events of the weekend. This year’s New York Pride hosted the World Pride festivities, to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots in 1969.
For a short while, Madonna’s actual appearance was thrown into doubt. At around 4pm yesterday afternoon, the Pier was evacuated due to stormy conditions whipping up the wind.
However, it was reopened when safe and her appearance went ahead as planned.
As it turned out, Madonna performed a short set of just four songs. However, the packed pier went ecstatic when she launched her set with her classic hit, Vogue. The song brought ballroom culture and vogue dancing to the mainstream masses back in 1990.
She followed this up with 2003’s American Life, before giving a speech to the crowd.
‘It’s weird, I know we’re on a pier and this pier has a lot of history. God knows it has a lot of history. Do you feel like you’re crammed on a parking lot right now?’ she began jokingly.
The piers in this part of Manhattan were notorious cruising grounds for men seeking sex with other men in the 1970s.
‘So, Fifty years people,’ Madonna continued in a more serious vein. ‘Fifty years of revolution, fifty years of freedom fighting, fifty years of putting up with discrimination, hatred and indifference, fifty years of blood, sweat and tears, fifty years of not bowing down to fear. That’s what I’m talking about.
‘We have been on this journey together, and I am so proud and honored to share this historical evening with you.”
‘You really don’t know. Since I came to New York as a wee little girl, I have always been embraced by queer nation. I always felt like an outsider but you made me feel like an insider. You must know how much I love and appreciate everyone here tonight. All members of the LGBTQ community.
‘Thank you from the bottom of my heart.’
She then launched into God Control, one of the latest tracks from her Madame X album. The song is a call for greater gun control in the US. Madame X, her 14th studio work, hit the top of the Billboard Top 200 last week.
She finished the set with the anthemic I Rise, also from Madame X. At the end, fireworks exploded over the pier.
Among those watching the performance was her friend Donatella Versace, who posted video to her Instagram account.
Also in the crowd was Madonna fan Fabricio Longo from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
He told Gay Star News Madonna’s set was ‘really short but powerful. Madonna is Madonna and she knows what it means to be who she is and sing to an LGBTQ audience for pride. So the performance was very emotional, since everyone was so excited to be there.’
Madonna’s performance caps off a hugely successful World Pride in New York City. Other performers to take part included Grace Jones, Lady Gaga, Alicia Keys, Melissa Etheridge. Organizers say the event was enjoyed by up to 4.5million people over the course of the entire weekend.
More at Gay Star News
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – JUNE 30: Madonna performs onstage during Pride Island – WorldPride NYC 2019 at Pier 97 on June 30, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Pride Island)
Embed from Getty Images Embed from Getty Images Embed from Getty Images Embed from Getty Images Embed from Getty Images Embed from Getty Images Embed from Getty Images Embed from Getty Images
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – JUNE 30: Madonna performs onstage during Pride Island – WorldPride NYC 2019 at Pier 97 on June 30, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Pride Island)
“Fifty years, people,” Madonna ad-libbed on Sunday night in Manhattan to a crowd of 7,000 rapturous, mostly shirtless fans.
The setting for this 30-minute concert? River Island stage on Pier 97 in Manhattan, better known as “Pride Island.” Madonna’s performance of four songs closed a week of festivities for World Pride, which included the June 28 commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots and the gay liberation movement.
“Fifty years of revolution,” Madonna said in a short sermon that she delivered between songs. “Fifty years of freedom and fighting. Fifty years of putting up with discrimination, hatred and ignorance. Fifty years of not bowing down to fear. I’m so proud and honored to share this historical event with you. Fifty f–king years. It’s insane. Are you with me?”
Full article HERE
“What are you lookin’ at?”
Well, at Pride Island 2019, the annual queer pier dance in Manhattan in conjunction with New York City Pride, revelers were looking at one of the most beloved, iconic and vociferous LBGTQ icons: Madonna.
Madame X closed out day 2 of Pride Island, which was especially packed considering that New York Pride — already a massive event — was more than doubled thanks to WorldPride taking up residence in NYC this year with June 28 marking the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, where Black trans women kicked off the modern fight for LGBTQ equality.
Madonna opened with her Harlem ballroom scene-indebted smash “Vogue,” and the audience response was deafening. After that, the musical shapeshifter brought out a single it’s safe to say no one expected to hear as part of a limited-length set: “American Life.” That being said, while it’s not one of her, say, 20 most iconic songs, the message of “American Life” has only grown more timely in the 16 years since its release, and its strangely compelling melange of squelching synths, strings and folk had the crowd rapt — especially when she dove head-first into the “soy latte” rap (which reals Stans in the crowd parroted back to her perfectly).
Full article HERE
Frankly, Madonna didn’t need to create ‘Madame X’, not for relevance, not for the tours and 360 branding opportunities that she invented.
‘Madame X’ can be seen as a defiant response to the trolls. But it very quickly reveals higher ambitions. This is a record that cuts across ethnic, religious, geographic and economic barriers. An act of music, an act of inspired politics. It speaks of dismay but holds out for optimism.
Travelling through her many incarnations, Madonna has finally become her own muse. ‘Madame X’ arrives, in full embrace of its author’s incredible life, the paths she has travelled, the lessons she has learnt or wishes to learn — and, most interestingly, of where her mind is at.
In ‘God Control’, Madonna sings “Blood of innocence, spread everywhere. They say that we need love. But we need more than this”. Clearly, the current state of affairs is her priority. But, if we can dance whilst saving the world, why not strike a pose?
There is a sense of letting go of the ego too. In ‘Dark Ballet’, she cedes the screen to LGBTQ+ activist, Mykki Blanco, and in the anthemic ‘I Rise’, she gives her platform to those who, the powers that be would rather silence.
Musically, ‘Madame X’ ties all of Madonna’s albums that have come before in one neat arc. Yes, it has a clunker or two, and sometimes Madonna’s songwriting seems rambling, it is undeniably brilliant. It is charting a new, multicultural territory. And where Madonna goes, the rest of the Pop brigade eventually follows.
Throughout the record, there is a sense of vulnerability that Madonna has not displayed in years. It is that vulnerability that comes from making peace with being a student of life, for life.
On ‘Looking for Mercy’, which is arguably one of the best songs on the record, Madonna asks: “Is it really pain if it’s inside? On the outside, I’m strong. Hold my hand, please sympathise”. Don’t be fooled. The only person she seeks sympathy from, is herself. This is not a woman looking for approval. This is a woman who will rise above it all.
Long after Madonna has discarded the eyepatch, she will remain a bride married to amazement. In ‘I Rise’ Madonna says: “Freedom’s what you choose to do with what’s been done to you”. And she chooses to use the vitriol directed at her to fuel creation.
More at Gulf News
Many posit that True Blue was the album that launched Madonna to superstardom, and indeed the record earned the pop singer a place in the Guinness Book of World Records, where she was given the title of most successful singer for 1986. True Blue was also the world’s top-selling album of that year and the best-selling album of the 1980s by a female artist.
True to its ’80s roots, in addition to acoustic drums the album features plenty of electronic drum programming, drum synths, and keyboard, along with some Cuban and Latin percussion on songs like “La Isla Bonita” and “Love Makes The World Go Round.”
Take a trip down ’80s memory lane with the following songs.
Stephen Bray produced and drummed on this track.
With Patrick Leonard on drums.
Stephen Bray on drums.
With Patrick Leonard doing the drum programming, Jonathan Moffett on drums, and Paulinho da Costa on percussion.
More at Drummagazine
Violence has been a surprisingly consistent theme throughout Madonna’s music video canon, from “Like a Prayer” to “What It Feels like for a Girl” to, most recently, “Dark Ballet,” in which Mykki Blanco is burned at the stake. But the video for “God Control,” from her latest album, Madame X, is shockingly graphic in its depiction of gun violence.
The video, which premiered on Wednesday, was directed by Jonas Åkerlund, who also helmed the clip for 2003’s “American Life,” the original version of was scrapped in the lead-up to the Iraq War. Parallels between the two videos are inevitable: “American Life” is a satire of modern society’s consumption of war as popular entertainment, while “God Control” depicts the carnage weapons of war can wreak here at home. Like “American Life,” the new video features a wealth of Easter eggs, hidden meanings, and cameos.
The brunette Madonna (we’ll call her Madame X) has framed photos of Frida Kahlo, Simone de Beauvoir, and Patti Smith hanging on the walls around her desk. Also visible are portraits of choreographer Martha Graham—who, according to Madonna, christened her with the nickname “Madame X” in the late 1970s because she was constantly changing her appearance—and political activist Angela Davis, a quote from whom is a featured at the end of the video: “I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I cannot accept.”
The record Madame X listens to while writing is titled “We Need to Wake Up,” printed in a ‘70s-style typeface. The credits, unfortunately, are too small to make out:
Early in “God Control,” a statue of Christ is seen weeping blood, echoing a similar shot in Madonna’s video for “Like a Prayer,” in which a black saint cries tears of blood:
A brief close-up of Madame X’s typewriter pulls focus on the letters “D” and “C,” an obvious reference to Washington D.C.’s inaction:
Later in the clip, Madonna punches the “Power Return” button, an obvious allusion to the people reclaiming their power, which is followed by a montage of gun-control demonstrations:
Though the opening shot of “God Control” establishes New York City as the location of the story, the club scenes were filmed at downtown Los Angeles’s historic Globe Theatre, where the marquee reads “We Need To Wake Up”:
Blink and you’ll miss cameos from RuPaul’s Drag Race alum Monét X Change, YouTuber Gigi Gorgeous, and actress Sofia Boutella, who’s danced for Madonna on tour:
Surveillance footage featured throughout the video is dated “16/05/12,” which some fans have speculated refers to a passage from the New Testament:
In another possible reference to “Like a Prayer,” Madonna is thrown against a wall and attacked, similar to a scene in the 1989 video in which she witnesses a young woman being sexually assaulted by a group of men:
While Madonna gets ready for a night on the town, a poster in the background reads “Straight White Men Rule Everything Around Me”:
Theories abound over whether the two Madonnas featured in the video are the same person, if they’re neighbors, or if the blond Madonna is a fictional creation of Madame X. One clue could be right at our fingertips—or, rather, Madonna’s. Both characters appear to be wearing the same glittery nail polish:
What do you think the video is about? Share your theories in the comments below!
More at Slant Magazine
World of Madame X – a documentary can now be seen through Amazon Prime!
Madonna rehearsing #GodControl for #WorldPride2019 pic.twitter.com/ZQJHErpL8F
— 🇺🇸 Migs ❌ (@Miguel_M1GS) 29 juni 2019
So the rumoured Pride setlist goes
Previously ‘Future’ was planned to be performed but some say it has been replaced by ‘God Control’, or ‘God Control’ has just been added to the existing setlist. There are clips foating online of Madonna rehearsing ‘God Control’ on Pride Island and in her Instagram clips you can hear ‘American Life’ in the back.
Not long until we found out now.
