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== ISSUE 210 ==== CONSUMABLE ONLINE ======== [May 17, 2000]
Editor: Bob Gajarsky
E-mail: editor@consumableonline.com
Managing Editor: Lang Whitaker
Sr. Correspondents: Daniel Aloi, Joann D. Ball, Chris Hill, Bill
Holmes, Tim Kennedy, Jon Steltenpohl
Correspondents: Michelle Aguilar, Paul Andersen, Christina
Apeles, Niles J. Baranowski, Jason Cahill,
Matthew Carlin, John Davidson, Andrew Duncan,
Matt Fink, Krisjanis Gale, Jade Hughes, Paul Hanson,
Scott Hudson, Jianda Johnson, Steve Kandell,
David J. Klug, Reto Koradi, Robin Lapid, Wes
Long, I.K. MacLeod, Al Muzer, Wilson Neate,
Mike Pfeiffer, Linda Scott, Don Share, Scott
Slonaker, Kerwin So, Chelsea Spear, Michael
Van Gorden, Simon West
Technical Staff: Chris Candreva, David Landgren, Dave Pirmann
Address all comments to staff@consumableonline.com ; subscription
information is given at the end of this issue.
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All articles in Consumable remain (C) copyright Consumable
and their author(s).
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| Contents |
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REVIEW: Phish, _Farmhouse_ - Matthew Carlin
REVIEW: Tom Maxwell, _Samsara_ - Michelle Aguilar
REVIEW: Gus Gus, _Gus Gus Vs. T-World_ - Andrew Duncan
REVIEW: XTC, _Wasp Star_ - Wes Long
REVIEW: Clem Snide, _Your Favorite Music_ - Matt Fink
REVIEW: Soundtrack, _Love & Basketball_ - Joann D. Ball
REVIEW: Radford, _Radford_ - Scott Slonaker
REVIEW: Portastatic, _De Mel, De Melao_ - Christina Apeles
REVIEW: Euroboys, _Long Day's Flight 'Till Tomorrow_ - Wilson Neate
REVIEW: Vagabond Lovers, _When I Was You_ - Jon Steltenpohl
REVIEW: Aloha, _That's Your Fire_ - Christina Apeles
REVIEW: Various Artists, _Heal the Bay_ - Andrew Duncan
REVIEW: Simon Stinger, _Devil On My Mind_ - Joann D. Ball
NEWS: Ben Folds Five, Promise Ring, My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult
TOUR DATES: Robert Bradley's Blackwater Surprise, Dismemberment Plan,
Dope / Primer 65, Alex Gopher, Korn, Lifter Puller, Magnetic Fields,
Phish, Skint (record label) tour - Brassic Beats, Elliott Smith,
Sally Taylor, The The, 3 Doors Down, Tonic, Train / Gas Giants,
Veruca Salt
Back Issues of Consumable
---
REVIEW: Phish, _Farmhouse_ (Elektra Entertainment)
- Matthew Carlin
Trey Anastasio is an excellent musician, an amazing guitarist
and even a great composer. As a songwriter, however, he stinks. Whether
he's wailing on '70s arena rock style anthems, strumming his way through
dopey hippie ditties or whispering a country-fied Americana tune, his
songs lack that magic element that makes music great. At his best, on
a song like "Heavy Things," the first single from _Farmhouse_, he is
simply adequate.
Where Anastasio's talent does lie -- and the same goes for the
rest of Phish -- is in setting moods. Despite their legions of doggie
paddling fans, Phish's ethereal jams have always owed more to Sun Ra
and early-'70s Miles Davis than the Dead. When they loosen up and take
structure, melody and rhythm into outer space, Phish can be truly
sublime. Conversely, when Anastasio writes a hundred different intricate
parts in distinct composerly fashion, Phish is also sublime, albeit in a
cerebral way.
There are certainly winning elements on _Farmhouse._ Anastasio's
guitar tone is fantastic, his solos are fluid and melodic without
getting hokey like Jerry Garcia often did, the recording itself sounds
live and punchy. On the whole, though, _Farmhouse_ is just plain boring.
The title track lacks a hook and pseudo ballads like "Bug" and "Sleep"
rehash territory from Phish's past two studio albums.
When they eschew Anastasio's still weak voice and lyricist Tom
Marshall's wretchedly shallow hippie lyrics ("When I jumped off, I had
a bucket full of thoughts / When I first jumped off I held that bucket
in my hand / Ideas that would take me all around the world" from "Back
on the Train"), Phish still has some undeniable charms.
"The Inlaw Josie Wales" is a pretty instrumental with lovely
accompaniment from Bela Fleck on banjo, Jerry Douglas on dobro and fine,
subtle work from pianist Page McConnell; "Gotta Jibboo" is a fun and
funky with a clever horn arrangement and nifty backing vocals that
recalls Phish live circa 1996; and the rolling dark bass lines, tasty
drums and, as always, fine guitar playing over the thankfully distorted
vocals of "Sand" and the triplet polyrhythms of the vocal-free "First
Tube" offer up some of what Phish is capable of.
Paring down his songs to their "essential" elements does not
suit Anastasio and his band mates. The songs just aren't good enough
to withstand such proverbial nudity. Phish fans have always preferred
long, complicated pieces like "You Enjoy Myself" and the 30-minute jams
that "Tweezer" turned in to live, because that's what the band is best
at. Phish is not a radio friendly band, and never will be. When they
try to be, it just ends up being uncomfortable for everybody.
---
REVIEW: Tom Maxwell, _Samsara_ (Independent Record Company)
- Michelle Aguilar
Reading the press sheet that accompanies the reviewer's copy of
this former Squirrel Nut Zipper's solo venture, one would think that Tom
Maxwell's new album _Samsara_ is going to fall into that small
rock-musician-explores-faux-world-beat category I like to call "gone
troppo." This is when musicians who have heretofore enjoyed mainstream
rock success abandon said rock world to chase their inner musical demons
across the globe. Think Paul Simon in South Africa, David Byrne in Brazil,
Stewart Copeland in Burundi. Wait a minute, I'm showing my age again,
aren't I? Dammit.
In its first paragraph, Maxwell's press release tries to separate
him from the SNZ camp by implying that he just had to escape the
straitjacket of the Zippers' image in order to get to his real self, the
one that communes with "a fury of passionate diatribes on music from the
Far East, India, Trinidad, America's South and New York's Harlem." Well,
suffice it to say that as much as I love Tom Maxwell and all the
'round-the world influences he brought to SNZ, this is not a "gone
troppo" album in my book. With a few exceptions, _Samsara_ is not all
that giant a leap away from what Maxwell was doing in the Zippers. That's
not necessarily a bad thing. Maxwell had a consistent track record with
SNZ, writing most of their singles, some of them my favorites (including
"Trou Macaq," and "Put A Lid On It"). He also wrote all the band's
calypsos and I'm a sucker for that stuff. But I suppose that's beside
the point, now isn't it?
So why did Maxwell leave the Zippers? I really don't know and
neither Mammoth (http://www.mammoth.com) nor Maxwell
(http://www.tommaxwell.com) seems to be saying. And despite what this
press release says, nor does a listen to this solo venture provide a
solid answer.
While there are five or six songs here out of fifteen that
probably would have never made the SNZ cut, I have trouble believing
that songs like "Sixes and Sevens To Me," "The Uptown Stomp," "The
Mooche," (a Duke Ellington cover, for God's sake) "If I Had You,"
"Caveat Emptor," "Don't Give Me The Runaround" or "You Always Get What's
Coming" would have been considered stylistically inappropriate for the
SNZ's typically smorgasbord albums. Maxwell even has female torch singers
standing in for Katherine Whalen (Holly Harding Baddour on "If I Had You"
and Mrs. Melanie Maxwell on "Flame In My Heart"), although, to be fair to
these two fine vocalists, Baddour and Melanie Maxwell carve out on their
own valid ground and in no way attempt to duplicate Whalen's tricks. In
particular, check out Baddour's mock-Chinese opera performance on "Some
Born Singing."
Most of these are catchy, interesting songs exploring the depths
of '20s, '30s and '40s music that reveal themselves more after a few
listens. Like the SNZ albums, _Samsara_ is a little of this and that,
although here Maxwell widens the scope a little to include old-time
country and the blues. They are generally more true to the genres they
lionize than the Zippers ever managed to be with its sheen of loving
hipster irony. This album sounds less slick than the SNZ's last album,
"Perrenial Favorites," and more often like a guy left in the studio to
simply do what he does. It evokes in a charming way the relatively casual
attitude with which old blues singers were once recorded. Sure, there are
also a few interesting departures into world music, such as "Some Born
Singing," the title track and the transcendental, all too-short
instrumental, "Indicatif," which features a Chinese sona. (Go look it
up, I had to.) But I assert that the majority of these songs would
find fans among many SNZ lovers, if they came them half a chance.
So, then what split the Zippers? Given the above, band politics
seems suspiciously to blame, an idea lent credence by the fact that SNZ
member Ken Mosher also recently left the Zippers camp. But then, Maxwell
has formed his own label, The Independent Record Company
(http://www.independentrecordco.com) and may have simply realized that he
could make a lot more money selling his own solo albums than begging for
two or three songs per album at the SNZ table. The Mammoth marketing
machine and the SNZ's cool cat image present certain economic advantages
to which Maxwell will no longer have access now. But, hopefully, those
advantages will eventually even out and Maxwell's songs will be judged
for what they always were in the Squirrel Nut Zippers -- not quirky,
inexplicable alternative hits, but an exploration of a time and place
when folk and pop music were not mutually exclusive.
---
REVIEW: Gus Gus, _Gus Gus Vs. T-World_ (4AD)
- Andrew Duncan
With their second release _This Is Normal_ gaining the proper
respect in the electronic community, the nine-piece Icelandic outfit
certainly has no shortage of talent. Who else has the art of blending
ethereal pop and new wave ethics with finely defined techno from a
collective of artists, filmmakers, musicians, a politician, a computer
programmer and a teen star? With _Gus Gus Vs. T-World_, the band is
actually taking a relapse in time.
Before there was Gus Gus, there was T-World, a band consisting
solely of Biggi Thorarinsson and Herb Legowitz, the two members
responsible for turning Gus Gus into the underground phenomena they
are today. The seven songs - all instrumentals - that are included on
this CD are mostly T-World's work prior to Gus Gus' debut
_Polydistortion_. The most familiar track on this CD is probably
"Purple," a bouncy, outer space techno song that crossed over into
_Polydistortion_ release, and also remixed by Paul Oakenfold on the
_Tranceport_ CD.
Influenced by a healthy dose of Depeche Mode and early
industrial, T-World's style offered a sound that contained motion,
glistening across a vast landscape of sampled textures while building
and expanding like the polar ice caps that drift across the Arctic Ocean.
Without the crafty vocal wit that is displayed on the Gus Gus
albums, songs like "Northern Lights" and "Sleepytime" offer elegant
trip-hop rhythms and loops, even with the flat four-on-the-floor
beats, a feat that not too many musicians can pull off.
Whether the band develops distant tribal and subtle ambience
on "Anthem" or mysterious trance on "Esja," there is not one dull
moment to be had, and that goes a long way given the fact this music
was created years ago.
---
REVIEW: XTC, _Wasp Star_ (TVT)
- Wes Long
Stop any person walking down the street, ask them if they've
ever heard of XTC, and if they don't say it's a drug or a band that
Michael Hutchence once fronted (INXS) they'll likely shake their heads
no. If you actually run into the rare person familiar with the lads,
odds are that they're unaware that the band recorded anything after
the 1980's. XTC's history is a long strange trip, and if I ever care
to print this review I don't dare go into it all now as I've only got
three new ink cartridges and a few thousand sheets of blank paper in
my printer. For those curious the best starting place is the Chalkhills
site online: http://www.chalkhills.org/
_Wasp Star_ is XTC's second release of new material in as many
years. Their _Apple Venus Volume 1_ garnered grand accolades in 1999,
a sometimes brilliant mix of acoustic and orchestrated pop which Andy
Partridge referred to as "orchoustic." The new album is a return to
form of sorts, much more electric and immediate, called "eclectric" by
Partridge. "This is definitely an 'up' record," Partridge voiced,
"the mood was very light and the album had the least amount of birth
problems."
The happy-go-lucky XTC of old rears its lovely head from the
get go with the opening riff of "Playground," which is aided by the
backing vocals of Andy's daughter Holly. "Stupidly Happy, the pick-up
line aplenty "We're All Light" and "I'm The Man Who Murdered Love"
continue the put the top down and sing along at the top of your lungs
vibe. The last three songs: "You And The Clouds Will Still Be Beautiful,"
the lush "Church Of Women" and the jaw dropping "The Wheel And The
Maypole" are as good as anything Andy's ever done. These are
straight-ahead guitar-driven pop tunes of the highest order with
finely honed hooks that you won't mind being snagged by.
Bassist and only other member of XTC, Colin Moulding,
continues his trend of precious little output with three cinematic
offerings in league with last years "Frivolous Tonight" and 1992's
haunting "Bungalow."
This is an album better than most, recorded by an
ever-surprising and horribly under-appreciated band. Once under your
skin no tweezers exist capable of prying this little marvel out. _Wasp
Star_ is an early contender for album of the year.
---
REVIEW: Clem Snide, _Your Favorite Music_ (Sire)
- Matt Fink
It appears as if the current alternative-country scene is in
danger of not really being sure of its direction. With most of the
more noticeable old guard of the movement seemingly wanting to distance
themselves from the No Depression sound, such as Jeff Tweedy leading
Wilco into more experimental territory and the Jayhawks and Son Volt
leaning towards more progressive sounds, few of their contemporaries
seem to be able to push the genre along. To be sure, there is as much
mediocre music being made on the banner of retro-country as there is
good. The fact of the matter is, it's not easy to make good country
music anymore. Doing so takes a delicate balance of reverent
musicianship without redundancy, while maintaining enough of an
irreverent edge to create something new and vibrant. Luckily, Clem
Snide is capable of picking up where the aforementioned digressed
and, more importantly, move the whole genre forward a step or two.
For the uninitiated, Clem Snide craft delicately multi-textured
country music with charmingly sophisticated arrangements, all wrapped
around the abstract surreal musings of songwriter Eef Barzelay. In
short, if Vic Chesnutt wrote an album's worth of songs for the Jayhawks
to record, and Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips showed up to produce,
this album, or a close approximation, might be the outcome. Like
Chesnutt, Barzelay writes songs in an strangely understated way, with
each listen revealing a little bigger piece of the puzzle. Though the
music is really far from folksy, mundane small town life is presented
through the eyes of those burnt out from the 9 to 5 grind.
From the achingly beautiful opener, "The Dairy Queen," driven by
carefully picked acoustic guitar and mournful violin and cello, to the
classy rewrite of Richie Valens' "Donna," Clem Snide prove themselves
more than capable of putting the brains back into what is left of the
alternative country movement. As with most bands with this inclination,
the ghost of Gram Parsons can be seen hanging around the corners, with
the chord progressions and nice harmonies in the gently swinging
"Exercise" and the low-key "Bread," which sounds so much like a Parsons'
song that you almost expect Emmylou Harris' backup vocals to be ringing
in the background. Of course, Clem Snide don't limit themselves to
apathetic country balladry, as the muffled dance drum beats of the
quirky sing-a-long "I Love the Unknown" will attest. The spooky space
country of "1989" and the impressive Wilco mixed with Neil Young ballad,
"Loneliness Finds Her Own Way," speak volumes of the depths that this
band is capable of reaching. Characteristic of the songwriting here is
the stripped down "Sweet Mother Russia," which is a fine example of
Barzelay's ability to bring out the beauty inherent in every moment and
to toss off some interesting metaphors in the process. At any rate,
he's one o