Sound Bites
Decksandrumsandrockandroll
(Dreamworks)
Now that The
Propellerheads found a word that's longer than Mary Poppins' magic word for
its album title, the band can sleep soundly knowing that Americans are
digging its infectious album while raking in a lot of money from
entertainment's Ghidrah monster of Spielberg, Geffen and Katzenberg. Nobody
probably understood the last sentence, but it sounds funny. In a strange
way, this is a perfect example for the appeal of
Decksandrumsandrockandroll. It's a wildly fun album that sloppily
crams in anything to make an album that doesn't amount to a lot, but sounds
good nevertheless.The appeal of the
Propellerheads is that the group takes a bunch of different sounds, layers
them with a blistering amount of breakbeats, bass and guitar wails, and
then infuses everything with the "groovy, baby" attitude of Austin Powers.
It's strange in a way, although the entire album is similar to the Chemical
Brothers. And it's very cool, at least in the attitude it effuses. "Velvet
Pants" and "Spybreak!" have that attitude, and the group's version of the
theme from "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" is sexy. The best song on the album
is "History Repeating," which features Shirley Bassey growling about the
advent of the ass-shaking beats. Despite the wild streak the album has,
this is first and foremost a dance album, and Alex Gifford and Will White,
the two who make up The Propellerheads, provide solid beats which can be
unspectacular at times. Other notable tracks are "360 (Oh Yeah?)" and "You
Want It Back" because they feature rap pioneers De La Soul and the Jungle
Brothers, and "Bang On," which perfectly demonstrates the "Big Beat" sound
that is tearing up the music industry's version of the rave. For epitomizing this rave,
The Propellerheads are ready to make a splash stateside, which makes it
totally respectable for them to go around as one of the coolest Brits in
music today (more than geeky Radiohead). They are the Austin Powers of
music. Swingin.' --Joseph Boo / Staff Writer
The Pillage
(Razor Sharp/Epic Street)
It has finally gotten to
the point where the Wu-Tang Clan needs its own record label for all of its
solo endeavors, which is understandable considering almost every Wu-Tang
member has released a solo album and the group is roughly the size of
Citicorp after the merger. OK, the last part is an exaggeration, but not by
much. There are so many Wu-Tang-related albums out there that it can
constitute a whole sub-genre of rap. Cappadonna is the latest to enter the
fray and the first to release an album under Wu-Tang's Razor Sharp label
(along with Killah Priest). Hopefully, The Pillage won't get lost
among all the other Wu-Tang solo albums, because this is one of the
stronger efforts by anybody associated with a rap group with "Wu" in their
name.This is a solid album for
two primary reasons. First, Cappadonna is a strong rapper with a clear,
forceful delivery that commands a lot of presence. Second, his first album
shows that he is willing to push the boundaries of Wu-Tang's trademark
sound a little bit. He doesn't go as far as Ghostface Killah and some
cursory attempts by other Wu-Tang members, but he is willing to push ever
so slightly on tracks like the Latin-tinged "South of the Border," the
strange "Dart Throwing" and the softer "Everything is Everything."But Cappadonna does have
the "W" logo everywhere on the album, so you know there will be a lot of
Wu-Tang's sparse, harsh and heavy beat. "Blood On Blood War" and "Supa
Ninjaz" would be at home on Enter the 36 Chamber, and every track
has some style similarity. RZA makes five appearances on this track, but
his influence is all over the sound of this album. There are also the
obligatory guest appearances from fellow Wu-Tang members, with Method Man
clocking the most hours, but U-God, Ghostface Killah and Raekwon also show
up. This inevitalby brings up the album's biggest weakness, that it's very
formulaic despite its strong points. But that's not a bad thing, at least
not entirely. As Shawn Colvin found out, the Wu-Tang Clan wants to be heard
by everyone.--Joseph Boo / Staff Writer
TNT
(Thrill Jockey)
If you were sent on a
mission from God to find the most unique band in America, you would save a
lot of time by flying to Chicago and meeting up with Tortoise. Unique does
not begin to describe a band whose musical philosophy is to play nothing
but rhythm sections layered over one another, regardless of what genre that
rhythm section is from. This conglomerate of eclectic musicians has grown
into one of the best-kept secrets in the music world. To own one of the
group's records is to identify oneself as a modern music connoisseur. There
are already a number of bands sprouting up who claim Tortoise as the chief
influence on their sound. All this despite the fact that Tortoise is still
a young band evolving into its own.Its new release TNT
is its best yet, a startlingly mature and developed album. The band went
through some lineup changes, and this is evident by the less-pronounced
bass in the new album. It is also more evident in the more jazz-like sound
of the album, and not just because the group added a saxophone player. It
incorporates a lot of jazz structures and ideals in the long solos that
comprise their songs. When off, Tortoise can be
laborious. But when everything clicks, like on "In Sarah, Mencken, Christ
and Beethoven There Were Women and Men" and "I Set My Face to the
Hillsides," it is an incredibly beautiful experience, and TNT finds
Tortoise clicking most of the time. Despite the seemingly incompatible
genres Tortoise works in, the album is very cohesive, and that is perhaps
its greatest success. There's no other band out there that would combine
classical music, jazz and bass deep enough to make Afrika Bambataa proud.
And there's definitely no other band that would make it all sound natural
when everything is mixed together. The cohesiveness was the last missing
element from the group's first two albums, and that's what makes TNT
a leap forward. Despite this stunning
achievement, Tortoise is still growing and evolving, which is what makes
this band truly fascinating. It's too strange to explode onto commercial
music's landscape, so it'll have to remain the treasured secret for the
lucky few who heard the band's music to greedily keep for themselves until
the world is ready for nothing but rhythm music. --Joseph Boo / Staff Writer
Water & Solutions
(Sony)
Water & Solutions
takes a while to get into, but once one does, there's no turning back.
The album's 12 songs resound with a passion and honesty found very rarely
in the world of hard, guitar-driven rock.The melodies remind one of
a hardcore Weezer, but singer and sometimes-guitarist Jonah Matranga isn't
afraid to scream and shout to get his point across. Though Matranga could
have easily allowed his yelling to become tiresome and overdone, he always
comes across as a sincere, unreserved vocalist.The title track and "Mother
Mary" are two of the most outstanding songs on the Sacramento-based group's
fourth album, confirming the power of Matranga's vocals and the ability of
guitarist Shaun Lopez to construct catchy melodies that never seem trite or
predictable.However, all of the songs
are worth listening to. The album is very well-rounded, containing slower
songs and faster songs, all of which capably capture strong emotions
through concise, pointed lyrics and memorable melodies.Above all, one shouldn't
disregard this album after just one listen. One runs the risk of
overlooking a genuinely good album, focusing instead on the fact that Far
is so straightforward and earnest that the band seems peculiar in the
generic, copycat world of guitar rock.--Claire Luna / Staff Writer