CLAMOR Magazine Fall Music Review Supplement

WHO STOLE THE MUSIC?Due to space limitations in the September/October issue of Clamor, we weren’t able to print any of the tons of

music reviews that we had slated for the issue. In an effort to bring them to you in a timely fashion, we’re

providing them for you here. We hope you find something you like. If you’d like to write reviews for Clamor,

visit www.clamormagazine.org/freestuff.html to see our list of available material.

16/Today Is The Day

Zodiac Dreaming split CDTrash Artwww.trashart.com

Two of the longest runningindy metal acts team up toshow that they still have what it takes to unleashsome powerful songs. 16 start off this record with3 slow, driving tracks with their standard display ofSabbath-esque riffage. Their not covering much newground, but are still able to play with a lot of power.Today Is The Day blast into their 2 songs with thevariegated rhythms and unique vocals that they’reso well-known for. The songs on this split strike meas more interesting than some of the other recordsthey’ve released lately. Both bands come off prettysolid, but this record isn’t particularly essentialeither.-Rich Booher

AMPLINE

The ChoirTiberius Recordswww.tiberiusrecords.comampline.indiepress.com

I first heard of Ampline whenI was playing in an instrumental band myself. Ilooked through the internet to see if I could find morebands like us and I stumbled upon Ampline. I mailordered they’re demo from SunSeaSky productionsand really didn’t know what to expect. I had listenedto some of their songs on their web site, but as youwill find out they are if anything varied in sound.

I remember getting the CD and thinking whatmost people do, but through the eyes of a personwho had played in an instrumental band, which isthat this band sounds like a band with a singer butnot necessarilyI was very surprised at the band’ssound. Its a very guitar driven band and at the timeI had listened to them, the only thing keeping themfrom being a really solid band was their drummer.He could really change the whole feeling of the songdue to lagging and sloppy playing. It sounded toolocal and too amateur.

Today, with their release on Tiberius records, achange in line up and an ironic title, The Choir, thisis a great band for listeners with adequate attentionspans. Its hard to pinpoint a genre, but I guess itsjust a sum of its parts if one was to analyzeinfluences. There’s some hard rock, some indie, someprog and some alt-grunge, a sound that is what itis, four guys with who like to play what they know

and not really be cornered into categories.I think that this band deserves recognition for

sticking to instrumental and because of theirperseverance and sincere sound. Check them out ifyour older brother was into Rush or into Joe Satrianiand you couldn’t stand the virtuoso cockiness.

The CD layout is pretty basic and not verymodern or fashionable which is very representativeof the band. Its clean and is a sound that’s familiarbut never ordinary.-Pablo Dodero

Backstabbers Inc

While you were sleepingbsi.rockxroll.com

Backstabbers Inc play brutalmetallic hardcore in the veinof bands l ike Converge,Deadguy, From Ashes Rise, etc. The music comesacross with a lot of energy that other bands in thesame genre could learn from. The lyrics are darkand angry, and cover topics like friendships,al ienated labor, and attempts to establ ishindividuality. My only gripe is with the use ofsamples. It seems like they were thrown in prettyquickly and taken from rather clichÈ sources (i.e.Fight Club, Al Pacino). The Al Pacino lacks any punchthat a good sample ought to have. Besides that,however, this is a very solid record that fans ofchaotic, heavy music will probably enjoy.-Rich Booher

Bhangra Beatz!

Various ArtistsNaxos World Collectionwww.naxosworld.com

On college radio, in recordstores, and in cars on SiliconValley’s busy streets, I’ve heard bhangra music foryears. At first the melding of technology with atraditional, folk-based style seemed strange. Whilethe instrumentation is different (samplers,turntables, synthesizers), the rhythms are the sameas they were hundreds of years ago. I get it now. Theartists on Bhangra Beatz have grafted traditionallyr ics and beats into modern arrangements,designed to make people move.

When I find out about a new musical style, I’moften reluctant to buy a CD on the basis of just onerecommendation. Bhangra Beatz is a great startingpoint for becoming familiar with the genre; you mightnot like everything on the disc, but the tracks provide

a great survey of the style, and plenty of variety.Getting to know Bhangra Beatz, I approached

it in many ways. I put it on while my housematesand I made dinner. It was perfect; an unobtrusivebeat, different from our usual (funk-related)selections.

The liner notes provide a history of bhangramusic, and a summary of the subject matter of eachsong’s lyrics. It was great fun to put the CD on“shuffle”, and try to guess which of the songs wasplaying based on lyrical content (“The hero witnessesthe marriage of his lover to someone else…PuttSardaran Da is a patriotic song with a never-say-die attitude”…). Not understanding the lyrics wasn’ta problem; for me, it makes it easier to pay attentionto the music.

After dinner, my three-year-old son discoveredthat Bhangra Beatz is great dance music; he circledand hopped around the living room, occasionallyletting out a subdued “Oy!” with the backgroundvocals on Aajo Billo, by Balwinder Safri. High praise.

Bhangra Beatz is a great introduction tobhangra music. The artists vary in their style andpresentation, but the sound and the beats are clear.Bhangra makes you move.- Bruce Bullis

Brant Bjork & The Operators

Brant Bjork & The OperatorsThe Music Cartel, 2002www.music-cartel.com

Brant Bjork became recognized in the stoner rockcommunity through his work in Kyuss and FuManchu. This is the debut recording of his new band(his sophomore solo release, however), done withsome help from Schneebi of Earthlings? Breakingout of the psychedelic hard rock mold, Bjork deliversa diverse album containing pop and jazz elements.There is a heavy substrate of funk here and alongwith the other elements exhibits the classic genreshe has an honest love for. Like a true fan of thismusic and an experienced musician, Bjork blendsthe sounds effectively for every other rock fan that“grew up on Ramones, Cars, Elvis Costello,” as Bjorkdescribes himself. There is a focus on groove here,but the approach is also song-based. On his debutsolo album Jalamanta Bjork performed all the music,and here he does most of that with some help fromSchneebi, guitarist Mario Lalli (Fatso Jetson) andbackground vocalist Franz Stahl (Wool, Foo Fighters). - Tom ‘Tearaway’ Schulte

CLAMOR Magazine Fall Music Review Supplement

Bratmobile

Girls Get BusyLookout Recordswww.lookoutrecords.com

One of the big surprises of thelate 1990s was when it wasrevealed Bratmobile was reforming. Emerging out ofthe early ‘90s Riot Grrrl movement, this trio blazed outa jagged, primitive sound that took the anyone-can-do-it ethic of punk to its literal conclusion until anumber of factors (including being placed under a typeof media scrutiny from which no one could escapeunscathed) led to their 1994 breakup. After four yearsapart, Bratmobile returned to action older, smarter, andmore than a little angrier; touring (including playingthe original Ladyfest in 2000), recording and making ascene in a world where sexism and homophobia aresold as “edgy” and “rebellious” and women are givenplastic pop instead of real empowerment and support.

“Girls Get Busy” marks a change in presentationfor Bratmobile. The primitive edge of the band is therebut fleshed out, with bass and keyboards making amore visible appearance than on their previous records.The result is a thicker, denser sound that casts theguitar work in a fuller light and, at times, adds depthto the drumming. The signature neo surf-garage-punkvibe seems to meld into areas they hinted at in thepast but few expected (vintage “new wave,” power popand/or ‘80s hardcore elements for example). The songsalso merge the personal/political feminist dialectic ofthe past with a overt big picture theme with songs aboutsexism in the music world (“I’m In The Band”), 9-11and the “war on terror” (“Shop For America,” “UnitedWe Don’t”) as much as taking on relationship downfalls(“That’s Happening”) and the Chandra Levy case (“ShutYour Face”). While some of these topics have beenhinted at in their past work, Bratmobile’s courage instating them in post 9-11 America creates an albumthat can be both current and timeless, mixing their(often underrated) knack for hooks and raw songs witha dialogue that needs to be heard amidst the flagwaving, fear, and borderline McCarthyism of today.

So what does Bratmobile have to offer in 2002?The trio that struck a nerve with “Kiss and Ride” backin 1991 have matured, using their experience to movethe band forward while keeping the spirit alive. Theirfirst post-reunion album, 2000’s “Ladies, Women andGirls,” showed them several steps ahead and “GirlsGet Busy” now finds them taking the hopes and fearsof our dangerous time and making music that demandsto be heard, screaming for vengeance amidst a worldof media disinformation and long-held prejudices.While the path they’re taking isn’t the most popular atthe moment, Bratmobile’s history of bouncing back willcontinue; this time they’ve managed to create one ofthe best albums of 2002 in the process. - Boone Stigall.

Bright Eyes

Lifted, or The Story is in the Soil— Keep Your Ear To TheGroundSaddle Creek Recordswww.saddle-creek.com

Bright Eyes changed my life a year ago when I cameacross the album, “Fevers and Mirrors.” I didn’tunderstand their popularity at all the first few timesthrough; it seemed dramatic, pretentious, and void ofany true emotion — another average attempt at a genreentirely saturated with mediocrity and unwarrantedvanity. The perfect example of why I didn’t listen to thebands that were coming out, but stuck with the solidfew entangled within my roots.

Entirely against my will, I started to hear it. Thatinstead of the emulation of emotion, this was the realthing. That this didn’t have anything to do with whatlabels, tours, contracts, and egos. This was far moreakin to how music began in the first place and why itbecame a popular medium — the expression of an ideanot only to rid yourself of demons, but to allow someoneelse to understand your existence and by that, feel apart of something larger.

What I had originally heard as pretension is nowclearly someone conveying something real, significantand new with an agility that blows my mind.

My experience with the newest Bright Eyes albumhas been a similar progression. It’s true, when I put itin, I wanted a new set of songs to make —“Fevers andMirrors” the double album it wasn’t, and that isdefinitely not what’s here. The first few times I heardit, the distinct country flavor mixed in with themelancholy I’m used to did not sit well at all. But as italways seems to be, after a few listens, the distincthonesty of Conor’s voice comes through and out ofnowhere, the album is brilliant. He writes the lyrics Iwish I did, says all the things I didn’t know I wanted tohear. After being accosted by so many bands that fallwithin such easily defined and predictable terms, theirsketchy motives so disappointingly obvious, listeningto Bright Eyes allows calmness in the knowledge thatgenuine things are still being created.-James Marks

Burn

Last Great SeaRevelation Recordswww.revhq.com

The Burn self-titled EP whichwas released in 1990 was oneof the great under-appreciated treasures of hardcore.Burn were playing original music with really creativeapproaches to lyrics when many bands had becomederivative and predictable. This EP was recorded in1992 and has been circulating in tape-trading circlesas the New Morality demo, but has now been releasedofficially by Revelation as the”Last Great Sea” EP.

Last Great Sea starts off with a catchy riff that’sreminiscent of “I Against I” era Bad Brains, whichseems to be an influence over much of the musicthroughout the record. It then flows into the mid-pacedmixture of melody and discordance which runs throughall of the Burn material. All of the songs on the recordare characterized by interesting shifts between heavy,chaotic and melodic parts. The vocals are much betterthan they were on their other ep, and flow extremelywell with the music. These three songs clock in at justabout 12 minutes total. Usually hardcore songs at thislength would be a really bad idea. However, Burn are

able to pull off long songs, keeping them interestingand varied without making them sound as if they simplycombined 2 or 3 shorter songs.

The lyrics are for the most part really vague andpoetic, but the song “The New Morality” is the songwith the most direct lyrics in Burn’s repertoire. Thelyrics are a general grievance against the state of theworld, a lament against capitalist accumulation,poverty and the powerlessness that most peopleexperience. It ends with a hopeful call for people to“fight back,” but to remain aware that we need to guardagainst the failures of the past. The lyrics are excellentin that they’re optimistic enough to avoid the “woe arewe” tone used by so many hardcore bands approachingpolitical topics without falling into an optimism thatseems hopelessly naÔve.

Burn comes through with an incredibly solidrecord that seems to define the band even better thantheir original EP. Thank goodness this has beenreleased in a format that will be accessible to thosewho are interested in acquiring it.-Rich Booher

Chumbawamba

ReadymadesUniversal/Republic Records

The story of Chumbawambaappears to be one of the moreunlikely stories of modern popculture. An underground band known for their anarchistbeliefs as much as their music, they were suddenlythrust into stardom with 1997’s “Tubthumping.” Whilethe song emerged in unfamiliar places, the band tookthe opportunity to voice their political views and standtheir ground. Fans going to their shows expecting apleasant pop group got drinking nuns, an eclectic setof genre-jumping songs, and songs covering suchtopics as censorship, war, Nazism, and homophobia.While many quickly tried to write them off as “one hitwonders,” the band continues putting out challengingmusic and taking stances few expect (the recentlicensing of “Pass It Along” to GM and then fundinganti-corporate activists with the proceeds being a casein point).

“Readymades,” the latest album fromChumbawamba, on first listen may be a shock. Theband seems mellower with folk music samples andrhythm loops that mesh with late ’60s-early ‘70s pop/rock vibes almost more than their eclectic punk-cum-dance rock. Upon repeated listens though, the discfinds Chumba to be as diverse (and unrepentant) asever with songs covering British navy mutinies (“SaltFare, North Sea”) to a historical take on the “anti-globalism” movement (the single “Don’t Try This AtHome”) to the case of British political prisoner SatpalRam (“Don’t Pass Go”) to sweatshop labor (“SewingUp Crap”) and poverty (“After Shelley”) among others.Musically, the sound seems to border on beingaccessible to the infamous “adult alternative” radioformat with overt pop hints woven throughout. Onesong (“Home With Me”) even starts with a piano partthat suggests ELO (though I doubt Jeff Lynne wouldever, even subtly, reference East Timor, the SpanishCivil War of the 1930s, or the Kronstadt Rebellion into

CLAMOR Magazine Fall Music Review Supplement

what would otherwise be a late ‘60s-flavored pop-rockballad or future classic hit radio fare). However, thereare more than enough Chumba trademarks in thesesongs subtly or otherwise (genre jumping, the use ofhorns, wah wah guitar, and huge background chorusesthat cross ABBA with drunken football chants to namea few) that create a disc that is unlikely to come frommost other artists in any era, especially nowadays.

Will “Readymades” return Chumbawamba to thestatus they had with “Tubthumping”? It’s difficult tosay given the fickleness of mainstream pop audiencesand corporate radio’s tendency to run screaming fromartists who offer a real alternative to the way thingsare (case in point: Clear Channel’s radio blacklist after911 including all Rage Against the Machine songs).However there’s always a need for catchy, accessiblemusic that takes stances and says something andChumbawamba does excel at doing that. Thus,Chumbawamba will continue doing what they alwaysdo: make music and use their art as a platform forquestion and change, choosing convictions overcelebrity in the process. Wish more acts would do thesame.- Boone Stigall.

Dag Nasty

Minority of OneRevelation Recordswww.revhq.com

Let’s set the scene.PIt’s 1985. PThe “Emo” style ofpunk has begun to entrench itself within the WashingtonD.C. punk music community. PYou’ve got Rites of Spring,Embrace, and some unknown band named Dag Nasty.PFormed by ex-Minor Threat/Government Issue/Meatmenguitarist Brian Baker, Dag Nasty’s original line up alsoincluded drummer Colin Sears, bassist Roger Marbury,and singer Shawn Brown (of Swiz). PHaving becomedisillusioned with Shawn’s vocal interpretations of thesongs, the band recruits their roadie (ex-DYS frontmanDave Smalley) to assume lead duties. PAfter a few livegigs with Dave, and the watershed debut album “Can ISay” for Dischord Records, Dave leaves the band to goto graduate school. PThe band enlists the help of a thirdsinger by the name of Peter Cortner. PSurviving variousband member changes, Dag Nasty forges ahead withtwo more albums, “Wig Out at Denko’s” and theunderrated “Field Day” before finally disbanding in 1989.

Flash forward 17 years. PPunk, especially Emo, isthe order of the day. PBrian has been performing as amember of Bad Religion for eight years, following a stringof what could be called musical dalliances that includedJunkyard, Careless, and Bash & Pop. PColin has playedfor every band on Earth, most notably The Marshes andLos Vampiros (with Peter Cortner). PRoger’s been makingthe rounds in bands such as Alloy (also with Colin), andDave has been padding his resume with All, Down ByLaw, and The Sharpshooters. PThe band did cometogether briefly for a couple of weeks in 1992 to recordthe album “Four on the Floor,” with Brett Gurewitzproducing for Epitaph. PAlthough containing somemoments of brilliance, the album was largely regardedas a sort of one-off Pthat didn’t seem to have had muchthought put into it. PThen, in 1999, Dag Nasty got

together once again and recorded the blistering song“Incinerate” for inclusion on Fastmusic’s “DisarmingViolence” compilation. PIf you’ve ever heard that song,then you know why Dag Nasty decided that the magicwas still there and powerful enough for them to doanother full-length album. PThat album is “Minority ofOne” for Revelation Records.

Let’s take a look at the ingredients, shall we? PThelead track “Ghosts” answers the question “What wouldhappen if the members of Bad Religion and Dag Nastygot into a car wreck?” quite brilliantly. PThat old DagMagic is there, with some soaring harmonies andheartfelt lyrics to boot. PThe title track then pounds andthumps with increased regularity, invoking a patternreminiscent of “Staring at the Rude Boys” by The Ruts.P”Bottle This” then begins with a guitar hook so catchy,you almost want to hear Baker keep on playing it with noaccompaniment whatsoever. PThe next song, “BrokenDays,” makes great use of Smalley’s almost falsetto-like vocal style. PJust when you’ve been lulled to sleep,the band wakes you up with the pointedly direct lyricsand rhythm of “Your Words”. PThe sonic attack continueswith the brilliant “Incinerate”, re-mixed for inclusion here.PThen, beginning with a bass line intro reminiscent ofthe early Minor Threat catalog, “Throwing Darts” bringsthe band up to date with a song dealing withconfrontational people who hide behind their computerscreens. P”White Flag,” “Twisted Again,” Average Man,”and “Wasting Away” round out the album with some ofthe best punk rock songwriting I’ve heard since the‘80s.PJust when you think it’s over, the fun continueswith the hidden track “100 Punks.” PA cover of theoriginal song by Generation X, you can almost see thesmiles on the band member’s faces as the track unfolds.

“Minority of One” is one of those rare instanceswhere you can tell that a once-famous band has gottenback together for all the right reasons. PThis is noattempt at nostalgia money. This album was put togetherthrough time, effort, and love. PProduced by Brian Bakerand Steve Hansgen (also a one-time Minor Threatbassist), this album sounds like butter. Engineered atthe infamous Inner Ear Studios by longtime Dischordstalwart Don Zientara, you just can’t beat the production.PIt’s not slick, it’s not garage… it’s somewhere inbetween. PThe artwork on the package by Jason Farrellis equally impressive, bridging the gap between theband’s past imagery and an up-to-date style hefrequently uses for Dischord Records. PAfter listening tothis album a few times over, it seems to me that it woulddefinitely be a shame if these guys didn’t at least do acouple of shows to promote this thing. PWith Dag Nasty’sfirst two Dischord albums having just been re-masteredand re-released, and this fine return effort being putforth. . . there will never be a better time for peopleunfamiliar with Dag Nasty to become acquainted withone of punk rocks truly great bands. PDo yourself a favor,and pick this disc up pronto. . .and while you’re at it,take a look into the making of this album and bringyourself up to speed on the minutia of the band by visitingtheir official site at www.daghouse.com. - Matt Kozlowski

Dead And Gone

The BeauticianGSLwww.GSL.com

In the three years since theirlast release, the Bay Area’sDead and Gone have become a decidedly different,evolving band. Gone is the producer of their last tworecords, Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong. The bandproduced “The Beautician” themselves and the resultsare sonically murkier, which creates a rougher soundingedge, which the band uses to their advantage.Stylistically, the group has grown into a fiercelymenacing band evolving from their earlier thrash/punkstyle into tight noise-rock unit.

The music is dark and powerful, at times thesongs pummel like a heavy Jesus Lizard and other timesare reminiscent of the slow, spooky style of the LaughingHyenas. The rhythm-driven intricacies of drummer JoeyPerales and bassist Brian Stern mix well with hauntingRoland Howard-esque guitar work of guitarist RockeyCrane providing a background to the hardcore snarlingof vocalist Shane Baker, whose lyrics range fromdepression to desperation to violence. Luckily the lyrics,which by themselves can be described as “goth-like,”are included so you can understand what Baker’sshouting about.

Dead And Gone are best described as a crossbetween The Birthday Party and early Neurosis. Attimes they are in full-blown punk rock attack mode,and at others the songs swirl off into calculatedlyabstract Sonic Youth-like dissonant guitar weirdness.The band has also added keyboards to broaden theirsound but they do not take away from the attack, justadd another layer to the dark and evil music.-Jason Ziemniak

Denali

DenaliJade Tree, 2002www.jadetree.com

Odds are good that you will findthis album right next toPortishead’s first album in theCD collections of girls that don’t listen to this style ofmusic normally. Stylistically, Denali vocalist MauraDavis has a voice which is similar to that of Portishead’sBeth Gibbons, that’s not what I’m getting at. The reasonwhy you will find this CD mixed in with the EaglesGreatest Hits, Nickleback, and Steve Miller is becauseDenali is a sex album just like Portishead’s is. Meetthe new Barry White for the alternative nation.

Musically, the album is pseudo trip-hopish buthas more of a driving rock beat, perhaps due to havinga real drummer in the mix. Alan Weatherhead and MarkLinkous of Sparklehorse are both involved, withWeatherhead engineering and Linkous doing selectproduction on the record. Similar to Engine Down (theband that Denali shares two members with), the musicis complexly played, yet simplistic in feel, theirdeceptive grace is easily one of the bands definingfactors and a testament to the age old saying that lesscan be more. Davis’ vocals dominate the sound. Her

CLAMOR Magazine Fall Music Review Supplement

opera-trained voice carries a passionate, powerfulconfidence.The CD also contains a video for the song, “Relief”which is low budget but creepy in a Silence of theLambs-type way.-Jason Ziemniak

Aiyb Dieng

RhythmagickSubharmonic, 1999www.axiom-records.com/subhar.html

The African dub of Rhythmagick features the crisp, fluidethnic percussion of Trilok Gurtu matching the talkingdrum, congas and more of master percussionist AiybDieng. Reeds are played by Pharaoh Sanders. Of course,the serpentine cosmic jazz from Sanders’ tenorsaxophone shows up, but Sanders also plays the full,Arabic-sounding double reed North African oboe knownas a ghaita, a type of shawm. (Inexplicably, Sanders iscredited with “metal and wood flutes.”) Also adding tothis album are two additional bata players: DanielPonce and Carlos Cordova. Their brisk, percolatingbeats on that double-headed drum add to the rich,layers of percussion. That layering is the plastic sonicmosaic one comes to expect from a Bill Laswellproduction. Laswell himself is on hand for deep,trademark “low bass” while Bootsy Collins adds a touchof psychedelic soul guitar and “Space Bass.” The high,melodic timbres are not abandoned, but just subtlyunderstated through effective treatment on the 6- and12-string guitars from master of the frets, NickySkopelitis. Bernie Worrell adds melody and rhythms tothis afro-dub beat creation on Hammond B-3 andClavinet ˆ the keyboard of funk. Primarily aninstrumental album, vocals that are present come fromstreet-poet and rap forefather Umar Bin Hassan (TheLast Poets).- Tom ‘Tearaway’ Schulte

Sorcha Dorcha

NÌl s·sat ach amad·inHearthside Musicwww.sorchadorcha.com

It’s been said of New York that you can find most of theworld’s great cuisines here, though not necessarily thebest. Something along those lines is also true of theworld’s musics. Somewhere in this town someone isworking some groove out, defining or re-defining music,in ways both traditional and otherwise.Some definitions conform more to tradition than others;some re-definitions conform more to creativity thanothers. But it’s all feeding and drawing from othertraditions present in that which is sometimes the Urbansmelting pot.In the middle of this Naked City, a city of the even morenaked heart, musician Lorcan Otway has put togethera group, Sorcha Dorcha, and seemingly embarked uponthe task of fashioning musical art and recasting thetraditions of Irish music in light of his experience bothas a contemporary musicmaker and as a man with anawareness of tradition and a personal faith. As possiblyonly an Irishman can or might wish to, Lorcan Otwayargues lyrically at length with the ironies of both

martyrdom and history, writing of genocides, culturaland physical, in both the old world and the new.In his constructed descant with History, Otway exhibitswhat he also learned from another tradition, of morelocal breeding, that of the singer-songwriter, thecomposer of the personal ballad, and fuses thattradition with the tradition of Anglo-Celtic music to telltales with meaning both about and for history.Lorcan Otway and Sorcha Dorcha have taken traditionalIrish melodies, some original compositions in traditionalmodes, put original lyrics to most, and come up withan amazing little album entitled NÌl s·sat ach amad·in,a CD of no small fun and some humour with a healthydose of good old kick up your heals danceability.- Bruce M. Foster

DSP

In the RedNinja Tune Recordswww.ninjatune.com?

I like the production of thebeats behind DSP; minimal,compressed, blast-able. The lyrics hold promise for thefirst few minutes. They sometimes devolve into too-predictable assertions of supremacy, but that seemsto be standard for modern hip-hop (with which I amacquainted, and about which I am no expert).

“Where Is It” has interesting lyrics about whatit’s like to be a female rapper. “Outtaplace” decriesBET (Black Entertainment Television) and MTV-copyingpersonalities, and tangentially stresses the importanceof being original and thinking for yourself. But bothsongs quickly devolve into better-than-you-ism.<Yawn>.

DSP are creative people with musical talent; Ihope they continue to work on their lyrics. Chill Rob Gis interesting on “Bullshit” and” “Imagine That,” butthe let’s-stay-in-bed-and-fuck words of “Way PastNoon” are disappointing. If they’re meant to be funny,I don’t get it, and if they’re meant to promote a lifestyle,I don’t want it.-Bruce Bullis

Electric Highlife

Sessions from the BokoorStudiosNaxos World

Highlife is a catch-allterm for dance music fromGhana and eastern Nigeria. Itbegan when the poor of Ghana copied the brass bandand orchestra music they heard and mixed it with folksongs and native rhythms. Over the years it hasdeveloped its own sound and now has its own place inthe Afropop canon.

This compilation covers releases from the semiopen air Bokoor Studio built in 1982. There arevariations in the thirteen cuts and eight bandspresented but they share the same essentials.

Vocal chanting and one or more guitars are atthe front of the mix. The chant (only the last cut usesEnglish) is a phrase or two repeated by a singer, or itmay be in a call and response format, where one

vocalist will trade off with others who are harmonizing.The guitars are frequently the only melodic instruments,usually played with complex repeating patterns. Bassand sometimes keyboards are present but hardly heard.The rhythm is taken by a variety of drum and percussioninstruments.

These songs are much easier to get used to thanyou might think. The multiple rhythms and lead guitar havea similarity to reggae. The eight pages of liner notestranslate the phrases and give a history of the music andeach band.

The most appealing thing here is the upbeat feelingand optimism. Some of the themes are “Our family issuffering” or “I am stranded and nothing is working.” Themusic is for dancing, though, both to make the listenersforget their troubles and to feel that they are not alone.

The songs have a light feeling. The guitars are ofthe Jerry Garcia mode, played with single note runs devoidof heavy effects. There are no blues growls or moans. Themen (there are a few women on background vocals) singenergetically. And the polyrhythms keep everything movingat a fast pace.

Actually, I suppose singing over patterns andrhythms does not make this too distant from rap. Thebiggest difference is that, unlike a lot of rap, there is nomalice on this record at all. This one is already one of myfavorites – I have to deal with enough malice as it is.- Dave Howell

The Flying Luttenbachers

Retrospektiw IVThe Mountain Collective forIndependent Artists, 2002www.mtncia.com

M u l t i - i n s t r u m e n t a l i s t ,composer, improviser, and drummer Weasel Walter isthe only constant in the rotating cast of players on thisCD which collects live, alternate takes and unreleasedmaterial from the various Luttenbacher line-ups from1996-2000. The Luttenbachers touch upon the genresand attitudes inherent in free jazz, death metal, andpunk rock. They prioritize speed, velocity, and harshnessand avoid obvious rhythmic or melodic constraints,thereby creating weird and complex music.

The two different line-ups presented in this“retrospektiw” are the drum/bass/guitar “satanic” trioand the formation that followed, which was a largelyfree-improvised affair consisting of drums/sax/cello/contrabass.

I wouldn’t really consider the trio music “noise”per se: it is noisy, but the songs are tightlycomposed”— think Sun Ra meets Black Flag, whilethe “free”-era, even with all-acoustic instrumentation,the music is just as hard-hitting, though not asstructured.

For listeners new to the Luttenbachers, this is agood CD to pick up to see what past era of theLuttenbachers you like the best because as one neverto stay stagnant, Walter has recruited two new playersand has yet again moved in a new direction which canbe described as “brutal prog” and has a new releaseon Troubleman Unlimited. -Jason Ziemniak

CLAMOR Magazine Fall Music Review Supplement

In The Nursery

Cause + EffectITN Corporationwww.inthenursery.com

Cause + Effect is a collectionof In The Nursery remixesespecially commissioned by the group and exclusive tothis album. After over twenty years of creating, therewas much to choose from for this project. Attrition, FleshField, Faith & the Muse and more are among the electthat recreate the songs culled from the In The Nurserycatalog. In The Nursery themselves contribute theirversion of Joy Division’s “Love Will Tear us Apart.” Verysuccessful in getting their music into films and oftenperforming to silent classics, their compositionalelectronica has an evocative, impressionistic, cinematicsweep. (Note that only a few of these tracks are actuallyfrom pieces used in films, like “Miracle Road” fromXXL and Underground.) After the reincarnation by otherartists, these pieces retain that suggestive, emotionaland image-building character that makes the group’smusic so enduring and memorable.- Tom ‘Tearaway’ Schulte

Jesus Christ Superstar

A ResurrectionDaemon Records

With everything elsereceiving a tribute, it was onlya matter of time before JCS wasrevisited. Feelings may differ about this work– some may revere it for launching the success ofAndrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, while others mayrevile it for the same reason. There is even a littlehesitation about this project expressed in producerMichael Lorant’s liner notes, which end with, “I’m notcrazy. I’m not crazy.”

This was not a crazy idea, though, for even if doinga musical on the subject of Jesus was pretentious, mostof the music has held up since the original album wasreleased in 1970 (it predated the stage show for fearof controversy).This CD, recorded after the cast put together a live showfor a music conference, is more of a rock than aBroadway version, and is much better for it. Differentbands perform different songs, including Lorant’s ownBig Fish Ensemble. Since these are mostly alternative,it has a darker tone, which fits the story – JCS does noteven include the usual uplifting ending of theresurrection.

A good example is “King Herod’s Song”. Theoriginal was done in a vaudeville style. The 1973 filmfeatured an awful version with an overweight guyplaying a “comic” Herod. This CD features Lorant’s bandwith added electric violin, baritone horns, and bassclarinets in an interesting but straightforward take.

Using different groups gives a variety of texturesthat the original did not have. They are all obscure butrespected, a sign of quality in today’s music. It iscertainly the case here.

It’s not entirely fair (though true) to say that thisversion of the CD takes second place to the original,since it would be very difficult to outshine Ian Gillian

as Jesus and Murray Head as Judas. Gillian is bestknown for being Deep Purple’s lead vocalist during theirpeak on such classics as “Highway Star” and “SpaceTruckin’.”

Lorant cannot really be expected to compete asJudas with the memory of Head, a prodigy who has alsobeen a filmmaker and actor. But using Indigo Girls AmyRay as Jesus and Emily Saliers as Mary Magdalene is acurious choice.

It certainly shows that things have come a longway. If Webber had cast those two as lovers forty yearsago, they might have crucified him. Unfortunately, thetwo of them sound pretty much like the Indigo Girls.This leaves the listener to wonder why they were cast.Lorant does not explain in the liner notes, not even tosay, “I am crazy. I am crazy.”

The bottom line on this is how much you liked theoriginal. If you did, this will be a welcome reunion. Ifnot, you will not want to listen to it even for thirty piecesof silver.- Dave Howell

Patricia Kaas

Piano BarColumbiawww.patriciakaas.net

“There are, of course, in allperiods all kinds ofcountenances, but only one type will be singled by aperiod’s taste as its ideal image of happiness andbeauty while all the other faces do their best to copy it,and with the help of fashion and hairdressers even theugly ones manage to approximate the ideal. But thereare some faces that never succeed, faces born to astrange distinction of their own, unyieldingly expressingthe regal and banished ideal beauty of an earlierperiod.” - Robert Musil, The Man Without Qualities

Patricia Kaas, a princess of French popular song,on her release Piano Bar, an album of fourteen classicsongs, is playing advocate for a formerly glorious butnow somewhat decadent bastion of the aspirations ofpost-war European culturati, the French chanson.

Once upon a time a genre that struggled toprovide some framework for the emotional extremitiesof Edith Piaf, for the poetic imagery of Jacques Brel, itsbest days seem behind it. Its thunder stolen by the lesscomplex tropes of Americanist pop, it is a genre thatnow provides mostly songs for movies, though theseare the themes of some of the most memorablecinematic romances of prior decades.

What Kaas brings to this admirable, if unevencollection of song is a voice and manner that speaksto some ambivalence towards the often babbling,demotic maw of pop. No foamy nonces disintegratingin the Klieg-lit day, coupled with hooks baited to catchpassing schools of nabobs, a certain coolness andrestraint of impulse prevails here.

With muted trumpets and snakey bass lines,reminiscent of some Phillie Soul love fest, Mlle. Kaasattempts no breakout hits, possibly because it can’talways be about breaking out; sometimes it must beabout being within. Mustn’t it? - Bruce M. Foster

KMFDM

AttakMetropoliswww.metropolis-records.com

A large part of success ofKMFDM’s music and certainlypreset here is the juxtaposition of technically superbfemale vocals that could fuel a good pop song with ablunt substrate of industrial rock. In that toughfoundation of brutal guitar sounds is the undeniablepounding rhythms of good beat music. Following on 18years of recording (11 albums) and tours (a dozenpreceded Attak), Sascha Konietzko’s sonic outputfollows a remarkably consistent and uncompromisingarc arriving here at a Foetus-like assault with a strongmelodic streak. Sascha dismantled the band in 1999and after using the moniker MDFMK, reinvented thegroup on the original formula, which may account formuch of the strength and freshness of this disc. Here,KMFDM’s starts over and reinvents itself. Saschahimself regarded this album on Metropolis as createdin the non-restrictive creative atmosphere that markedthe early days of Wax Trax! and KMFDM’s excellent workat that time.- Tom ‘Tearaway’ Schulte

Lack

Blues Moderne: Danois ExplosifsEarth Water Sky Connection

Relentless and punishing.These words come to mind asthe needle hits the record andrises off it when the songs have run their pummelingcourse. I found myself slamming an imaginary drum setin my car, arms flailing wildly and a grin even more crazedgracing my face, as I blasted this from the stereo. Lacktake the best elements of the mosh-inducing boneheadhardcore metal sound and fuse them with creative guitarriffs and diverse rhythms to meld a distinct thick,crunching sound. A throat-shredding singer screams overthe din, spewing forth a litany of words much in the spiritof the Situationists, Crimethinc and other such lovers ofunhinged passion. Though I’ve heard comparisons tometal-core titans Botch, pre- “Shape of Punk to Come”Refused seems more appropriate. But who needscomparisons? Lack do not lack an ability to craft seriouslyintense, pounding rockers topped with intelligent, wellyelled lyrics, words that inspire and evoke thought. Howoften can that be said of a punk rock band with metalovertones? The vocalist is at one point hopeful,determined: “One word silently whispered between mylips: freedom,” “Show me you’re alive,” But then hebecomes skeptical, questioning those who have comebefore and failed or surrendered: “Are we changing thetimes? Are these flames of discontent really firestormsto purify? Have we lost our will to tear down the walls,burn the flags and start again?”, “It’s like being buriedalive when our ideals become our tombstones.” In theend, he vows to do more, be more, to, in the words of theSituationists, vivre sans temps morte: “I want my deathto be a party. A celebration. A toast for the living of life.”-Casey Boland

CLAMOR Magazine Fall Music Review Supplement

L’Altra

In the AfternoonAesthetic Records, 2002www.aesthetics-usa.comFollowing on “Music of aSinking Occasion,” L’Altraraised the bar for themselvesin arrangements and sophistication on this ambitiousrelease. Strongly song-oriented and featuring vocalduets from the group’s vocalists Lindsay Anderson andJoseph Costa, this album is also very interestingsonically. Even without vocals, these tracks would standinstrumentally. Modern electronic techniques comefrom Marc Hellner, one half of Pulseprogramming. Asolid, alt-country foundation comes from upright bassand understated drums while the reed and trumpetarrangements add a classic jazz feel. This is the group’sfinal record with bassist Ken Dyber, Aesthetics owner,due to a geographical move on Dyber’s part. L’Altracontinues to mature and develop as an impressiveensemble with solid songs. Guest musicians hereinclude jazz cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm (FlyingLuttenbachers), Robert Cruz on accordion (Sinister LuckEnsemble), Charles Kim on pedal steel (Pinetop Seven,Boxhead Ensemble). Additionally we hear Todd Mateion guitar (Joan of Arc), Joe Grimm on trumpet (33.3)and more on this instrumentally rich opus.- Tom ‘Tearaway’ Schulte

Life at Sea

Anchor Down CDEPWorld Won’t Listen Recordswww.worldwontlisten.com

I’ve been listening to these songs as mp3s for a couplemonths now, so it was a wonderful treat to watch thembridge the digital divide in such a nice format.Packaged in a hand-screened cardboard sleeve withan vinyl anchor sticker, “Anchor Down” delivers threesongs that will leave you undoubtedly wanting more.For me, I’d much rather be wanting more from a band’srelease than wonder why there are six songs on a full-length that seem only partially-developed.

The first track on this debut, “Sink,” sets thestage with a solid rock foundation that dips its toes inthe ethereal world of dreampop. The second track, “YourNew Constitution,” is the nucleus of this effort as anepic journey that layers crashing waves behind thejangly guitars and vocals that transport you to the bowof a ship in distress. The last track, “Invisible,” takesyou to another plane with hauntingly dissonant vocalsthat send you soaring in the sky just before the chorusbrings you down and dashes you against the rocks. Thisis phenomenally well-paced, calculated, and blissful.They’ve already been compared to the likes of Fugazi,My Bloody Valentine, and The Police, but I wouldundoubtedly say that they are akin to the late greatThree Mile Pilot in so many ways.-Jason Kucsma

Light the Fuse and Run

All Your Base Are Belong to UsExotic Fever Records

One mid-spring evening I found

myself weary and hopeless at a ramshackle show waydown South. Hunger howled in my belly as lethargypounded at my consciousness. Then a group of five guysfrom Virginia set up shabby-looking equipment andproceeded to awaken my excitement and explode mymisconceptions about the current state of undergroundloud rock music. The name says it all. This band wantsto detonate a stagnating society, a bored punk rockscene, their own lives of wanting and waiting but notwilling to settle for wanting, waiting, stagnation orboredom anymore. They take up the traditionalinstruments and cajole from them familiar sounds. Yetthe band careens forth on sheer power alone. Thevisceral charge of every song on the record propels oneto take up arms, their own or any other to rectify thewrongs around them. The spirit of Rites of Spring infectsthe music, while a hint of Swiz peppers the vocals. YetLight the Fuse possess their own rousing brand ofrighteous rock. Included for good measure are anacoustic interlude, a few squiggly electronic bursts anda moody, jazz sample of Dave Brubeck. This bandsmokes in the live setting and manages to commit thefire to vinyl. Essential for fans of riveting rock musicwhom think bands these days have nothing to say.-Casey Boland

Ed Littman, guitar

SplattYeahman Recordswww.edlittman.com

There are many ways to enterGod’s house. Some haveentered via the front door. Contemporary guitarists whoplay the improvised music known as jazz are quite likelyto have followed their muse in from some part of thehouse, probably the garage.Apprenticeships served in garage bands; oftentimes‘reformed’ complexity junkies grown into men who neverlost that urge to search for the right chord, the perfectbeat, their instrumental masters are likely to be anyone of a number of guitar players, such as Jeff Beck,or, maybe from a slightly younger generation, AndySummers.

Call it my reading of the overall ambience, butthere is something about guitarist Ed Littman’s CDSplatt that tells me he was possibly a fan of Jeff Beck.It’s the delicious inconsistency of a music that neverlands anywhere for long but that it finds something ofinterest to hear and to speak of to those with ears tohear. Harmonic memories of Thelonious Monk, OrnetteColeman, Link Wray, and the Ventures run nakedthrough some Sergio Leone-style construct abound,combine with a sense of delight and exigency.

Case in point, track one, “Trip-Op,” is somecrabwalk bass-line, cross-fertilised affair, that Ilistened to about ten times before I went on to thebalance of the CD. Walking, slow-dancing, strollingdown some avenue in Anytown, USA: it’s a vignette oflife in some serpentine urban dream realm. It is as nearto perfect track as I have heard of late.

Track two, “Grind It,” another high point, and oneof those ‘too cool for school’ riff-driven blues ideas.The basic riff repeats along a simple harmonicprogression with well more than able support from

bassist Danny Zanker and drummer John Dollinger.This one stays in the player.

- Bruce M. Foster

Noise Ratchet

Till we have facesThe Militia Groupwww.themilitiagroup.com

About a year ago theseguys played at a communitycollege I was attending up in San Diego. It was probablythe only band that played the Thursday afternoon show,which I thought would go on to better things. A year ormore has passed since that day and I have in my handstheir CD “Till we have faces”, out on The Militia Groupwho have signed bands like Rufio who seem to beopening for all the cool bands lately, Veronica andTora,Tora,Torrance among others. The press kit saysthat they have been compared to the likes of SunnyDay Real Estate and Jimmy Eat World. Being unfamiliarwith Sunny Day and very familiar with Jimmy Eat WorldI would say that it has a J.E.W. feel to it, which I thinkis well represented by the guitar work done by Molinaand Lothspeich although its not out of this world. Therhythm section however is not very strong. Somemoments seem pretty empty and if you have been intoother similar bands with a really strong rhythm sectionyou sort of feel that void at times.After the end of the first song some overdubbing wasdone and you get this saturated fuzz which I thoughtwas an error, but I guess its part of the song. Somelyrics are pretty corny and with “emo” written all overit, but these guys can get away with it most of the time.Especially with a cool voice like Hosler’s. I’m sure thatfans of bands like Hot Rod Circuit, Further SeemsForever/Dashboard Confessional and Midtown coulddefinitely get into it. Older JEW fans might not dig it asmuch as newer fans. Noise Ratchet’s sound is uniquewhich is not an easy task for the genre. Its emo/grungeguitars with catchy hooks and powerful vocals. I’msure these guys will be doing well in the future andseem to have a good grasp on the Christian-emo-punkscene.The design is pretty sweet and the choice of paper wouldhave been mine also for the insert. It’s very colorfuland has the songs hand-written like some melancholypoet’s notepad. I did think that the pictures of the guyson each panel was unnecessary and that because thepaper is so porous it sacrifices print quality.Nevertheless its a good CD and if you’re into the bandsI mentioned be sure to check this out!- Pablo Dodero

onelinedrawing

VisitorJade Treewww.jadetree.com

Onelinedrawing is the soloproject of singer/songwriter Jonah Matranga formermember of indie band Far. This release is Matranga’sfirst full length release from Jade Tree on the heels ofhis four self released EPs. With 11 short songs of honestand emotionally charged lyrics, “Visitor” does not

CLAMOR Magazine Fall Music Review Supplement

deviate too far from the trademark sound of his previousEPs. The production consists of a very sparseaccompaniment of guitar, piano, and drum machinethat never overwhelms nor distracts the listener fromthe main focus of the music: the vocals. Thecombination of guitar and drum machine work welltogether (“Bitte Ein Kuss”). However, when the latteris removed (“Why are we fighting”), the sound can bea little too bare. The really sparse pieces work well ontheir own, but not in the context of the album.Highlights of include the sweet pleading of“Smile,” the super catchy chorus of “Softbelly,” andthe bitterness of “Yr Letter.” Except for the occasionalfiller track, most of the songs on the album sound greatindividually. Because of a lack of uniformity, thisalbum would probably work better if it were releasedas 2 individual EPs.-Terence Lo

Pikadori

Hope Records, 2001www.hoperecords.com

Pikadori is a four-piece bandthat comes to you fromPittsburgh, PA. Their debutrelease takes you on a journey through great guitartones and melodies along with many changes, backedwith a hard driving drumbeat with a hint of distortedbass tones. All seven songs on this record go throughdifferent chords and patterns and just explore everyaspect of their musical talents. With a sound thatresembles bands like Piebald and Cursive, these guysare definitely a great addition to the whole Emo scene.Songs such as Mission Statement and Model Nothingset the entire mood and pace for the whole album aswell as the band itself. Pikadori is definitely going tomake an impression on the Punk community.-Nathan S Linville

Prefuse 73

The ‘92 vs. ‘02 CollectionWarpwww.warprecords.com

Scott Herren returns with a newEP following the release of hiscritically acclaimed “VocalStudies + Uprock Narratives” album in 2001 whichsuccessfully juxtaposed the sound of modern IDM withinstrumental hip hop. The title of the EP seems tosuggest that this is a collection of remixed tracks butthat is hardly the case. Containing four new tracks,the EP manages to ebb and flow nicely as a collective.The overall mood is mellow and is more reminiscent ofthe works from Ninja Tune’s “Cinematic Orchestra”than Herren’s previous LP which showcased his styleof sudden breaks and vocal cutups. The first song,“Desks Pencils Bottles,” begins with a rhythmicinterlude created with the objects mentioned in the title.A fuzzy hip hop beat then appears and constantlymutates itself through rhythm and time signaturechanges. By combining the sound of almost classicjazz instrumentals with electronic glitches, the secondtrack manages to sound remarkably futuristic and retro

at the same time. Although the EP clocks in at justover 16 minutes, tracks are excellent. Expect to seeHerren’s next release sometime next year. If it’sanything like this EP, fans will have a lot to look forwardto.-Terence Lo

Puffy AmiYumi

An Illustrated HistoryBar/None Recordswww.bar-none.com

Puffy AmiYumi is everything you should hate, but don’teven try. It’s impossible to resist their twisted, ultra-cute appeal. Consider it giddy, dialectical retributionfor 50 years of American pop imperialism.

“An Illustrated History,” their second US release,sounds like every American hit song since World War II.I mean that literally: every song — played, if notsimultaneously, then at least in very rapid succession.It’s an insane collage so dense that little is specificallyidentifiable, even though every riff is tip-of-the-tonguefamiliar. It’s like listening to your car radio scan throughELO, the Beach Boys, T. Rex, Henry Mancini, the SexPistols, and the Go-Gos in under a minute.

Why choose among styles when you can have themall? “An Illustrated History” moves effortlessly from Whopower chords to Disco perfection to melodies liftedstraight from a Johnny Mathis Christmas carol —sometimes in a single song. What keeps it fromsounding like a dada car crash or Pluderphonic outtakeis that everything gets run through a 1960s-girl-groupmachine that melts it down into a single, joyous wallof sound. It isn’t that these particular girls are retro inany way — except in the sense that they’re everythingin every way. Instead, imagine the Ronnettes or theShirelles teleported into a sci fi future where madproducers get busy downloading the entire history ofwestern music into their brains.

Now they want your brain. Chances are they’ll getit. Back home, they’re idoru (idols). They’ve sold 14million records and have their own TV show, clothinglines, and Puffy AmiYumi action figures. It may not belong before they — with hyperbolic, cartoonishenthusiasm — follow more literally animated Japan-Pop phenomena like PokÈmon and Hello Kitty to takethe country by storm. Don’t worry: it won’t hurt a bit.-Charles Weigl

Q and Not U

On Play PatternsDischord Records

Dischord Records stands as thebeacon of hope and inspirationfor most practitioners of allthat is independent and DIY. I must admit my adherenceto the near infallibility of this label, an avatar of allthat is right and true in the Independent Way. Thoughsome may bemoan its less traditional punk rock, loud,fast, rules direction, Q and Not U is reason enough toknow the label remains committed to disseminatingbracing and crucial music. The band does more withtwo songs than most bands do with entire careers.“Animal Calls” rocks out in a vaguely familiar, slightly

Fugazi-esque fashion. Yet a unique personality shinesthrough. The vocals soar along the single-note guitarline, and the instruments coalesce into a perfect catchyrock anthem. A powerful, immense song. “SoftPyramids” shifts to a more somber, funky, sexy mood(yes indeed, sexy). The quiet, crooning singing defiesexpectations. The Uh-huhs really make the song. Witha steady, infectious danceable rhythm and a smatteringof keyboard and other percussive elements, the songoffers a glimpse of what can be done with terse musicalelements in the same way Gang of Four, Wire or theMinutemen had. The Future of Rock?-Casey Boland

Silvio Rodriguez

Expediciónonomusicwww.fonomusic.com

In Expedición, Cubansongwriter-singer SilvioRodriguez has crafted a small wonder of an album;containing twelve original compositions; each a finelynuanced moment out of time.

Previously introduced into this market by DavidByrne’s Luaka Bop label, Silvio Rodriguez is a Cubanartist who shies away from little, including what mightbe dubbed mere recklessness in an artist in theAmerican popular mode: a desire to take beauty on itsown terms; a lack of concern with grandiosity or bluster;a disregard for an image of a false populism. Hisambitions result in art of finely crafted gestures.

Working in a trans-national tradition of Latinballadry, informed by the popular and high arts, onethat produced the likes of Mercedes Sosa, CaetanoVeloso, and Gilberto Gil, Silvio Rodriguez writes songsin his native tongue that project a translucent integrityand intensity of purpose.

ExpediciÓn was produced for the Latin market,only recently noticed by the satraps of the major labels.From out of the resulting hooha and hoopla, amonochromatic picture of a panoply of complex culturesemerged, one reduced to the common elements ofpounding rhythms and vibrating anatomy. But that’sthe pop business model: Flesh And Fantasy For TheMasses. We knew that going in.

I have little in the way of objections to eitherrhythm or anatomy, they are after all pretty damnpopular in my house. But I also like songs written inkeys other than C and in meters other than common.My rice and beans get cooked in ways that take morethan a minute.

I could say that Rodriguez’s rhythms are “gonnaget you,” but these rhythms, and his rhymes as well,are creatures of a sly intent, far more likely to draw youin quietly. And completely.-Bruce M. Foster.

Teddy Duchamp’s Army

Hope Records, 2001www.hoperecords.com

From the hard rocking beat ofthe opening track JFK to themore melodic and upbeat sounds of New Moog, Teddy

CLAMOR Magazine Fall Music Review Supplement

Duchamp’s Army is definitely a force to be reckonedwith. This five-piece group comes out of Pittsburgh, PAwith their six-song debut release packed with all thesounds of the uprising Punk/Emo movement. Evenwhile leaving no obscure “Stand by Me” referenceunturned the band still has time to put some originalityin their music such as the rather campy tune calledOne Big Hollywood, which in today’s rather bland musicscene is hard to come by. So if your in to melodicguitar riffs with a bit of a bite and some hard rockinfluenced drum beats, as in the last song The Pulse ofThe Corporate Humanoid with the drum solo at the end,check it out. Teddy Duchamp’s Army does in twentyshort minutes what most bands couldn’t do in an hour.-Nathan S Linville

Various Artists

The Best of Lounge MusicAtoll Musicwww.atollmusic.com

The earthwork remains ofmound building cultures,ensconced in the pine forests of the central andsouthern tiers, are as close as we get to ChartresCathedral around here. Brought down from days of gloryby a tag-team of grave robbers and a historicalrevisionism of American self-referential reverence forthe Never Was, not much impact remains to thoseremnants of other men who worshipped other gods.

The clichÈ of Chartres, that unidentifiable stonemason marching off into a beclouded Oblivion, contentwith a role in that interplay of forces called history,where deviltry is in mere detail, well, never was thatus, now was it? Tramping down a ramp, dutifullydescending into the dustbin of history? Nope, not thislot.

Everyday we dissolve two tabula rasas into somefoamy, collective obsession with Hoppalong Cassidylunch-milk glasses filled with the milk of purple cows.Left by some gender-bent Clarabell, off to pursue acareer in media relations, poor Howdy copes as best hemight. The domestic soundtrack swells to meet therising expectations of raging egos, Cajun moon, wheredoes your power lie? As you move across the summersky. You took my baby way too soon. What have youdone, Cajun Moon?

And some home-bred Piaf delivers a slap acrossthe cheek, slicing away at expectations of romanticfulfillment. The bluesy refrain coupled with gospelchorus; a home-cooked Qwaali with electronic fillsmerged into a downbeat abasement, before which eventhe most cold-hearted Apache dancer’s heart wouldmelt.

This is two CD’s of Euro-pop, dubbed loungemusic by fiat of outraged self-definition. A cross-cultural product of the hubris of the Treaty of Rome,implanted by act of will into some retail outlet on astreet near yours.- Bruce M. Foster

Various Artists

CQ: Original Soundtrack AlbumEmperor Norton, 2002www.emperornorton.com

The idea behind the film CQ isto make a film in 2001 set in1969 Paris as a futuristic look forward to 2001. This isthe directorial debut of Roman Coppola, son of FrancisCoppola. As one would expect from an early work froma creative mind, Coppola goes to the essence of thisthought, even down to the music collected in thissoundtrack. There are a couple of true French pop hitsfrom that period by Claude Francois and JacqueDutronc. Most of the music, through, was recorded todayas a reverse engineered time capsule from Mellow, agroup cut from the same cloth as Air. The lush stringand brass sections and faint but psychedelic guitarare the musical adornment. Some tracks areinstrumental and the rest feature youthful andinnocently sexual vocals. CQ is a transport back to thattime.-Tom ‘Tearaway’ Schulte

Various Artists

Friction Records CompilationCD Volume 1Friction Recordswww.frictiongoods.com

Samplers are like a box ofchocolates… Okay, ignore that analogy. I don’t wanta lawsuit at this point in my brief writing career.Imagine, though, that a somewhat slow-talking guywith a penchant for running had completed it for me,and you get the idea of how I feel about receiving anysampler from any label whose music I had never heardbefore. Okay, that analogy really sucked. Sorry.

One nice thing about this sampler from FrictionRecords, in particular, is its diversity. From a greattrip-hop opening act to the worst, most genericgrindcore and emo I have ever heard, there’s somethingfor everyone other than maybe TRL fans on here. Hell,maybe even they would appreciate the emo stuff.

There IS some good stuff floating around on theCD, though. The opener, Enon, drops some very cool,collected music with their take on trip-hop 2002. TwoStars Burning Sun shined with some tremendouslydiverse metal-meets-grindcore-meets-shoegazer-meets-something-else. Other highlights include 1984,Hunter Rose, the Deftones-flavored Duress, Wrecker,the sickening power-surf-pop of Night Doctors, andBirth with their Coltrane-fueled screaming saxophones.

Unfortunately, the good things are wayovershadowed by some of the most boring, formulaicemo and grindcore that I have ever heard. Nothingreally sucks, though. Everything on this sampler isrelatively well-produced, and the disk is mastered wellenough. Hell, they even sent me a sticker of Don Knotts(a killer takeoff on the cover art from Danzig’s firstalbum), and if there’s ANY way a band could suck upto a reviewer like me, it’s sending out a sticker. Yes, Iam that shallow.-Jeremy Mahler

Various Artists

Location is Everything Volume1Jade Tree Recordswww.jadetree.com

The title of this compilation,“Location is Everything,” seems to underscore howimportant the Jade Tree name has become in theindependent music world. Once known mostly for bignames like the Promise Ring, Joan of Arc, and Jets toBrazil (all of whom appear here), Jade Tree is now (orperhaps, has always been) embracing bands (such asZero Zero and Trial By Fire) that couldn’t, or wouldn’t,come close to emo if their life depended on it.

A good compilation has songs that both soundgreat in isolation and make the listener want to hearmore (after all, even indie labels want to sell more CD’sright?). This one succeeds on both counts. The PromiseRing’s “Emergency! Emergency!” is certainly as gooda song as any to introduced the uninitiated to theiramazing pop goodness, and Zero Zero’s “Back to Hell”confirmed my suspicion that they were a band I’d loveto check out. Milemarker’s two tracks combine melodickeyboards with raspy guitars beautifully, and thecontributions by Pedro the Lion (aka David Bazan)reassert the intensely gripping nature of hissongwriting.

Not all is amazing on this comp. The tracks byGirls Against Boys made me wonder why a band likethis could be described by their label as one of “thelabel’s most recognized bands””— one would thinkthat such a reputation would be warranted, and it suredoesn’t seem like it from these tracks.

New End Original’s “Lukewarm” dangerously flirtswith flavor-or-the-month hookiness, and the PromiseRing’s “Easy,” while amusing for a fan like me, seemsto point out the reason why some songs go unreleased.

Samples of R2D2 on Onelinedrawing’s “Smile,”two quality songs by Mighty Flashlight, and great tracksby Owls and Euphone also are highlights.

When all is said and done, this compilation servesto further show the diversity of bands on Jade Tree’sroster. With that in mind, I can’t help but thinkingthat some of these artists would not be very well-knownif not for the fact that they are on Jade Tree. I guesslocation is everything, indeed.

There are seven previously unreleased tracks aswell as sixteen tracks culled from various Jade Treereleases on this album.-Jim Withington

Various Artists

Paris Lounge 2Wagramwww.musicrama.com

“What’s the most importantthing? ... Necessity ... People dowhat is most necessary to themat any given moment.” - ArchieGates, Three Kings (1999)Having long since come to prefer the disarming,charming fraud to the overly intent and honest jungeman, my amusement with collections such as this

CLAMOR Magazine Fall Music Review Supplement

should surprise no one. If nothing else is true, at leastI can perceive an evolutionary necessity for a lack ofhonesty.

I am certain that Oscar Wilde might haveappreciated the thought. Unfortunately mere honestymay have no future. It then falls to individuals to figureout upon whom the impact of this lack of a motiveforward will fall. That one can be more than nerve-wracking, and not at all pleasant. (And please, don’tget your panties in a bunch with the thought that I likethat immoderate Nature might favor the lounge lizard.The mere thought of it appalls me too.)

Cobbled together from strands of musical DNA,sonorous memes in search of a notion of home,chromosomal material in search of a squat, if theseconstructs had been the result of other than sonicengineering conducted under strict laboratoryconditions, we would probably be faced with the horrorsof some talking jellyfish. Thank you, Modern Technology,for dodging that bullet.

But instead of a phalanx of Frankenstein’smonsters, bolts all shiny, daintily sipping tea from chinacups at the breakfast table, we have two CD’s composedof trip-hopping beats and grooves, asynchronous tonaltracts suspended in musical time, somehow speakingto the need for a background into which Life at its mostbasic can sink. Trans-national sonic wallpaper? Well,maybe. But have you ever seen what Matisse could dowith a decent stretch of wallpaper on a breezy, moon-lit summer night?- Bruce M. Foster

Various Artists

Revelation 100: A Fifteen YearRetrospective of RareRecordingsRevelation Recordswww.revelationrecords.com

“Revelation 100” is a collection of unreleased and rarerecordings from bands who have released records withRevelation Records in the past 15 years. The bandsrange from the late-‘80s straightedge bands that thelabel started out with to the more recent metal andindie-rock stuff they’ve done as well.

Most of the tracks have been previouslyunreleased, though a few have appeared as comptracks or B-sides in various places. The standout songsare the Youth of Today, Gorilla Biscuits, and Judgesongs, the Judge song is one of the unused recordingsfrom the coveted-by-record-collectors “Chung King CanSuck It” LP. The Side By Side song probably would beup there too, but it’s a live recording that’s not of thebest quality.

One wonders whether there’s any point inreleasing an acoustic Ignite song since the bandsrecorded material is already hard to stomach. Farsideare able to pull off an acoustic song, but Ignite reallyshouldn’t have bothered. Another oddity is the JudasFactor song that shifts from techno beats and samplesto fast hardcore. A much more successful attempt atexperimentation than what Ignite tries, though not upto par with the band’s other material.

If you’re familiar with some of the bands on therecord that you need more songs from, then this record

may be of interest to you, but the wide variety of bandsand quality of recordings makes it unlikely that manypeople will get into the record as a whole.-Rich Booher

Robert Anton Wilson

The Walls Came Tumbling DownNew Falcon Publications, 2002www.newfalcon.com

Robert Anton Wilson wrote this film script in the late’90s while settling into a new environment (Los Angeles)and recovering from a collapsed film deal. Wilsonwaited nearly a decade before publishing it. This is notone of Wilson’s better works. Wilson’s books ofphilosophy and social criticism shine with brilliance,wit and a clarifying debunking. Praise of these pointsfestoons the covers here, but it is not The Walls CameTumbling Down that earner that lauding. In the storyMichael, an academic scientist, is so barraged withhallucinations and the paranormal that his entire realityis upset for reality only to emerge as a world run by acontrolling shadow government with an extraterrestrialtreaty. The quick scene changes and short dialoguesthreaten to unseat even the reader. The Golgothaimagery, folk hallucinogens and parallel universetheorization is a grab bag of alternate reality modelsthat may have been advanced in the late ‘80s. However,it now reads as predictable, unexciting and notrevealing at all. Certainly a necessary addition to thelibrary of the Wilson completists, but a better entry pointinto his wisdom can be found in Reality is What youcan get Away With or Prometheus Rising.- Tom ‘Tearaway’ Schulte

Zegota

NamasteCrimethinc

The first thing to note aboutthis is the amazing packaging.The packaging on CD’s usuallylacks creativity, but “Namaste” is contained within awonderful silk-screened cardboard package, in whichyou’ll find the CD and a booklet with lyrics, explanations,and art.

The music is intense and amazing when it’s atits best. Zegota bring to mind their fellow Crimethinc-ers Catharsis at times. They play heavy metallic riffs,with strong traces of melody, and are complimented byscreamed and growled vocals. Several tracks soundlike long, noisy, freestyle sessions. Those tracks weren’tnearly as great as the songs which seem to be the normfor the band. Their rendition of Crosby, Stills & Nash’s“Ohio” is well done. Zegota add their own touch, whiletipping their hats to the original spirit of the song.

The lyrics are about a desire to live passionatelyfor the most part, as can be seen quite clearly in thesong “(just give me) one moment of passionateexistence.” The lyrics read as if they were written afterheavy reading of Nietzsche. That strong desire forpassion comes through very well on this record, whichleaves one with a desire for more than just music.-Rich Booher