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==== ISSUE 71 ==== CONSUMABLE ======== [March 19, 1996]
Editor: Bob Gajarsky
Internet: gajarsky@pilot.njin.net
Sr. Correspondents: Jeremy Ashcroft, Martin Bate, Dan Enright, Tim
Kennedy, Reto Koradi, David Landgren, Sean Eric
McGill, Tim Mohr, Jamie Roberts, Joe Silva, John Walker
Correspondents: Dan Birchall, Lee Graham Bridges, Scott Byron,
Eric Hsu, Tim Hulsizer, Stephen Jackson, Daniel
Kane, Mario Lia, P. Nina Ramos, Linda Scott,
Ali Sinclair, Jon Steltenpohl, Courtney Muir Wallner
Also Contributing: Michele Morabito, Oleg Pshenichny
Technical Staff: Chris Candreva, Dave Pirmann, Damir Tiljak,
Jason Williams
Address all comments, subscriptions, etc. to gajarsky@pilot.njin.net
==================================================================
All articles in Consumable remain (C) copyright their author(s).
Permission for re-publication in any form other than within this
document must be obtained from the editor.
==================================================================
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| Contents |
`------------'
CONCERT REVIEW: Sting, Moscow - Oleg Pshenichny
REVIEW: Queensryche, _Promised Land_ CD-Rom - Dan Birchall
REVIEW: Love and Rockets, _Sweet F.A._ - Stephen Lin
REVIEW: Lou Reed, _Set The Twilight Reeling_ - Reto Koradi
REVIEW: Frank Black, _The Cult of Ray_ - Eric Hsu
REVIEW: The Pharcyde, _Labcabincalifornia_ - Martin Bate
CONCERT REVIEW: The Wrens, New York City - Bob Gajarsky
REVIEW: Michael Shrieve, _Two Doors_ - Ali Sinclair
REVIEW: John Taylor, _Feelings Are Good and Other Lies_ - Michele Morabito
REVIEW: Mike Pinder, _A Planet With One Mind..._ - Linda Scott
CONTEST: Consumable/World Domination giveaway!
NEWS: Sex Pistols 20th Anniversary, Performing Songwriter
TOUR DATES: AC/DC, Barenaked Ladies / Bogmen, Frank Black / Jonny Polonsky,
Jackson Browne, Brother Cane, Combine, Cravin' Melon, Deftones, Diamond
Rio, Arlo & Abe Guthrie, Hum / Mercury Rev, Love and Rockets, Ziggy
Marley & Melody Makers, Menthol, Mystery Machine, Mysteries of Life,
Ken Nordine, O-Matic, Poi Dog Pondering, Professor & Maryann, Rake's
Progress, Sister Machine Gun / Gravity Kills, Sting, Swales, They Might
Be Giants / Swales, Tina & The B Side Movement, Tiny Lights, Urchins,
Uzjsmedoma, Weston
ADDITION: Killing Joke _Democracy_
Back Issues of Consumable
---
CONCERT REVIEW: Sting, Moscow, March 13-14
- Oleg Pshenichny
The red stars on the towers of the Moscow Kremlin don't
often meet the big western stars, so two of Sting's gigs in the
Great Kremlin Palace (March 13 and 14) were a great sensation for
Russia. The media went crazy and sometimes we felt nearly into
Sting-mania. The tickets (from 15 to 100 US dollars) blew out in
under 2 days and on the days of the concerts tickets were selling
for around $400 on the black market. The special black "ZIL" limousine
(a type of Russian goverment special car) with the license number
STING 77 took Mr. Sumner around Moscow. The shows were not commercial
in the truest sense because the local Alfa bank paid for everything to
promote the concert, and the ticket money went to a local charity.
It was standing room only in this former Palace for the
Communist Congress - and the "New Russians", in fur, gold and diamonds
occupied most of the first fifty rows. It was obvious they didn't
bother themselves what kind of artist they want to see - he's *The
Big Star*. But the rest of the audience was warm and excited to listen
to Sting.
The March 13th concert was the first in his current world tour.
Russians call it "wet" - the program was not perfectly cooked yet, and
the band was a little afraid of the new audience, new programm and bad
acoustics of this monstrous official Palace.
Sting's band is the same that recorded the _Mercury Falling_ album,
which is now firmly on the top of the Russian charts - with no spare
copies in the shops - and in the Top 5 in U.K., with the exception of
the Memphis horns. If you already have listened to _Mercury Falling_
and have the old live double (non United States) album _Bring On The Night_,
you can mix the impression to generate a picture of his sound. Sting
shows himself as a grown-up, tired, obsessed with
what-is-the-meaning-of-it-all problems, but still powerful musician.
The improvisation and personal instrument-playing possibilities of,
say Mr. Kenny Kirkland, are bound very tightly to the pop-format of
the concert. Everything was well rehearsed and prepared long before
the concert including every little gesture and musical "improvisation".
Sting moved rarely and slowly; it's the father of six children on the
stage, not the rock-rebel or jazz-pop-classic genius in free flight
of the fantasy. In this critic's estimation, the show was performed
not to expand on any of Sting's horizons, but to bring music from
his most recent album directly to the people.
The second show was much more relaxed because of even better
sound. The set list was copied from the night before with Russian
"How are you?"'s for the audience, one-time Sting jumping, one-time
moving from left corner to the right corner (the most visible gesture
during the whole show) and an improvisation of "When The World Is
Running Down". The problem is, despite any lack of Sting doing
anything surprising during his show, the audience - as well as myself -
visibly and audibly liked the show. When the music is this good, even
a less than perfect stage presence can't dampen the overall concert.
The concert was filmed by the main Russian TV and they were
allowed to shoot first three song to 15 television companies from all
around the world. For more information on Sting's world tour, check
out the Fields of Gold homepage at
http://www.rrz.uni-koeln.de/wiso-fak/wisostatsem/autoren/sting/index.html
SET LIST: "If I Ever Lose My Faith", "If You Love Somebody, Set Them Free",
"King Of Pain", "Hounds Of Winter", "I Hung My Head", "Let Your Soul Be
Your Pilot", "You Still Touch Me", "Seven Days", "Fields Of Gold", "25
To Midnight", "4 Seasons", "It's Probably Me/Sister Moon", "Shape Of My
Heart", "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic", "Roxanne", "Englishman
In New York", "This Cowboy Song/When The World Is Running Down", "Every
Breath You Take", "She's Too Good", "Nothing 'Bout Me", "Lithium Sunset"
While not contributing articles to Consumable or doing publicity
for concerts in Russia, Oleg Pshenichny reports and writes on rock and
roll in Russia for several of the country's top newspapers.
---
REVIEW: Queensryche, _Promised Land_ CD-Rom (EMI)
- Dan Birchall
Like its namesake album, Queensryche's new _Promised Land_ CD-ROM
has been a long time coming. Fans first heard that a CD-ROM was in
the works in May of 1994, a full five months before the album was
released. At that time, the CD-ROM was expected along with the album.
Things didn't go as expected - release dates told to fans slipped at
least ten times! Meanwhile, the _Promised Land_ album went platinum,
and Queensryche toured extensively, so fans weren't left completely
disappointed. Despite the delays, the fruit of their labors should
redeem Queensryche in the eyes of their fans. The two-disc CD-ROM
set pushes the envelope in every way. Expectations will be high
after the wait, but even the most jaded fans should be in for a
few surprises.
Old and new fans alike should enjoy the Big Log disc, a
virtual copy of Big Log Studio - the cabin in the San Juan Islands
where Queensryche recorded the _Promised Land_ album. Dozens of
audio and video clips are scattered throughout the cabin, and may
be found by looking closely at everyday items. The clips can also
be viewed together in the form of a short video documentary. Also
hidden in the cabin are three full-length videos for songs from
the album. Big Log pales in comparison to the Promised Land disc,
which is truly in a league of its own - a hundred minutes of digital
audio and video, 70 computer-generated digital environments, and two
thousand high-color ray traced images, all packed onto one disc!
In a Consumable interview several months ago, Michael Wilton said
that the game would take 30 hours to win, but he may have
underestimated.
The sheer volume of visual and aural information is
overwhelming. The graphics are vivid, ranging from realistic to
absurd. There are rich sounds and hundreds, if not thousands, of
items which interact with the user in various ways, and puzzles
galore. Even the members of Queensryche make appearances in
unexpected places. When members of the band appear, they invariably
offer ethical morsels, in the form of encouragement, scolding or
advice. Despite Queensryche's success in the world of music,
its members have retained a strong sense of values which are the
basis of the puzzles within the game. The ecology of each world
on the disc can be endangered in some way, and once endangered,
each world can be saved. The game is by no means a "shoot-em-up";
the ultimate goal of reassembling a five-part Native American totem
pole can be reached without violence. The victor's reward, of
course, is a performance of a never-before-heard Queensryche song
entitled "Two Miles High."
This CD-ROM set is certainly not for the faint of heart,
or the faint of hardware - it requires at least a 486 PC or '040 Mac,
8 megabytes of RAM, 16-bit color and a dual-speed CD-ROM drive,
and a recommended system is at least one notch better in each
department. Each musician's world is a game unto itself, and with
short-cuts and connections between the worlds, it is very easy to
lose one's sense of direction. Once users get past the initial
shock and sensory overload, though, both discs are full of
challenges, fun, and opportunities for mind-opening experiences -
things that Queensryche's fans have come to expect from "The Thinking
Mind's Metal Band."
---
REVIEW: Love and Rockets, _Sweet F.A._ (American)
- Stephen Lin
I'll admit that I was a little disappointed when Love and
Rockets released _Hot Trip to Heaven_ in 1994; not because it wasn't
a good album, but because it didn't sound like the Love and Rockets
I expected. A similar fear for Love and Rockets new release, _Sweet
F.A._, disappeared less than ten seconds into the album. I was
immediately greeted by a classic, pristine Love and Rockets sound
reminiscent of _Earth Sun Moon_. Skipping ahead, I discovered that
the fuzz distortion sound from _Love and Rockets_ was also present.
Some of the acoustic songs sounded as if they belonged on _Express_.
Essentially, _Sweet F.A._ is the perfect conglomeration of most styles
that Love and Rockets has employed over the past decade and beyond.
But even that statement doesn't fully do this album justice.
In addition to quite possibly being the best Love and
Rockets album ever, _Sweet F.A._ also represents the most
painstaking work the band has completed to date. After working
in San Francisco and London, Love and Rockets went to Los Angeles
to begin the final recording phase. Unfortunately, they nearly
lost their lives to a catastrophic fire in a house owned by
superproducer Rick Rubin. Luckily the trio survived; many of the
demos and all of their equipment did not. Undaunted, they entered
a second studio prepared to use more minimalistic approach than they
had in the past six years. They eliminated a great deal of the
overdubbing and effects which allows the songs to speak more for
themselves. In addition, they recorded while all three performed in
the same room. The culmination of these factors and Rubin's
brilliance helped create this masterpiece.
"Judgement Day" has the same kind of darkness that could be
found in their works as members of Bauhaus. The title track has the
same sort of angelic feel similar to songs from Love and Rockets'
earlier days. "Use Me" seems to contain an angry atmosphere not
unlike "Motorcycle" from their self-titled album from 1988. The
whole album displays a wide variety of emotions while maintaining
the continuity of one focused piece of art.
Before the April release of _Sweet F.A._, Love and Rockets
will release an EP titled _The Glittering Darkness_. The EP will
contain a number of previously unreleased tracks as well as "Sweet
F.A." Whether you're an avid fan or if you're a hardcore Goth still
lamenting about the disbanding of Bauhaus or even if you're completely
new to Love and Rockets, this album is well worth your time. Love
and Rockets has officially returned with an album that should satisfy
a fan from any point in the history of Ash, J, and Haskins.
---
REVIEW: Lou Reed, _Set The Twilight Reeling_ (Warner)
- Reto Koradi
Since the Grammys for this year have already been given away,
the race for next year is already finished in one category: Lou Reed
will win hands down for ugliest album packaging. But as long as an
album has his name on it, not even this blue mess will stop us from
listening. It's been 4 years since his last real album, the intimate
and sad _Magic And Loss_, and six years since the fabulous _New York_.
But Lou Reed hasn't been lazy; there was a Velvet Underground reunion
(showing that all other band members look twice as old as him), a
book, soundtracks, and contributions to other people's albums and samplers.
Lou Reed was always a master of simplicity, of creating a maximal
effect with minimal means. This hasn't changed on this new album; there's
just Reed's voice and guitars, plus bass and drums and the production is slim
and clean. There are a few tracks in the classic Lou Reed style, like the
catchy first single "Hooky Wooky" or "NYC Man". Laurie Anderson contributes
some background vocals on the slow, simple, but beautiful "Hang On To Your
Emotions". Highlights are "The Proposition", where Reed's great guitar
takes over the melody line, and the vocals define the rhythm, or the epic
"Riptide", which starts out with noisy, Hendrix style, guitars.
One track that you will most certainly not hear on US radio is the
controversial "Sex With Your Parents (Motherfucker)". It's a sarcastic song
about Republican politicians ("something more disgusting than Robert Dole").
Talking about Lou Reed's music without mentioning his lyrics is
impossible, as he is a poet as much as a musician. Many of the songs
deal with emotions. "Trade In" talks about realizing that your life is
messed up, and wanting to be another person ("how could I think that it was
true, a child that is raised by an idiot, and that idiot then becomes you").
There are very deep and beautiful sentences, like "first came fire, then
came light, then came feeling, then came sight" from the dark and intense
"Finish Line". Others just capture real life and make you think, such as
"you're so civilized it hurts". Tracks like "Adventurer" can be viewed as
poems with music just as well as songs with lyrics.
If this album has one problem, it's that there are hardly songs
that will make great singles and could ignite huge sales. These songs take
time and attention. But Lou Reed just has more class than most others, and
_Set The Twilight Reeling_ is a clear proof of that. You can't miss it at
your record store: just remember, it's the ugly blue one that you need.
---
REVIEW: Frank Black, _The Cult of Ray_ (American)
- Eric Hsu
Somewhere between _Bleach_ and _Nevermind_, Kurt Cobain dropped the
heavy-metal mask and Nirvana embraced popdom with a whole heart. He later
said he was inspired by Black Francis of the Pixies, who was writing very
poppy stuff and yet retaining some kind of alternative credibility. The
Pixies produced pop with surface abrasions (mainly Black Francis's
screaming) and a certain self-consciousness. The video for "Here Comes
Your Man" had the band "lip-syncing" by opening their mouths as wide as
they could, an attempt to trade in pop currency while critiquing the
process.
When the Pixies split up, Kim Deal went on to write a clutch of hit
songs with the Breeders, but Frank Black (as he is now known) has pretty
much dropped out of sight on his (now) three solo albums. This is not a big
surprise in the sense that the Breeders play with pop in structurally
obvious ways, like making funny sounds and using distortion in nonstandard
ways, but the result remains super-catchy pop. On _The Cult of Ray_ we
find Frank Black playing against pop in ways that are not so easy on the
public ear.
_The Cult of Ray_ sounds like the product of a man who's lost faith
in rock and listening to this tape may undermine your own faith in
punk/pop. The band has a spontaneous feel to it, but the songs are arranged
oddly. Frank sings and there is a straightahead bass and drum rhythm
section, but the guitar solos nonstop through the whole record. That's
right, it's just a duet between Frank and a wanking Steve Vai-ish guitar
hero (Lyle Workman) with drums and bass indicating chords. The idea sounds
cooler than the reality, but Frank Black seems to want to get away from the
alternative-standard arrangement of distorted guitar blasting out song
chords.
Many other aspects of the record reflect an exhaustion with pop;
I'm desperately trying to avoid any words prefixed with post-. There
is a questionable but thought-provoking theory that a creative form in
decline becomes self-referential and we have that in spades here. There's
a song about "Punk Rock City"; "Jesus Was Right" claims "I/ play guitar
for elevation.../ I like distortion when I barre chord", the next song has
Frank saying "But the chorus was pretty much the same/ every time I wrote
this song". Throw in "Dance War" and "Mosh, Don't Pass the Guy" and most of
the record is about rock.
The songs also draw on real oddball/novelty concerns and material,
another sign of an exhausted form. "The Marsist" is about a guy obsessed
with reaching the face mountain on Mars, the title track is about Ray
Bradbury, the last track uses the name "Shazeb Andleeb" (rhymed with
"glebe"!). This is reminiscent of Wire's material when they were at their
creative nadir (song titles like "ZEGK HOQP" and "Eels Sang Lino"), hoping
weirdo wordplay would add inspiration to the same old forms.
Musically, the feeling is similar: "The Marsist" takes a "Pretty
Woman"-style lick and sets it against a wailing one-note guitar yell. The
chord progressions are close to standard pop with one or two weird chords
thrown in, or with an extra measure here or there to keep the rhythm less
ordinary.
It's great to see Frank Black pushing at the boundaries of his
musical world, but this tape has a real transitional feel to it. The songs
that work best are the straightest like "The Men in Black" and this is not
a great sign on an experimental record. In some sense, the experiments are
as obvious as the Breeders' experiments. If you look at the later John
Lennon Beatles songs, he tries the same kinds of experiments: odd lyrics,
throwing in extra measures or using odd rhythms, and there are numerous
other similar examples. It's not terrible to be found repeating the same
kind of experiments as John Lennon, especially since Frank Black has
already worked out a number of pop formulas on the Pixies records and done
more than his share of influencing. But ultimately you are judged by the
quality of your music and the music that you inspire, and _The Cult of Ray_
is interesting, but lacking on both counts.
---
REVIEW: The Pharcyde, _Labcabincalifornia_ (Delicious Vinyl/Capitol)
- Martin Bate
If the cartoon rollercoaster-ride cover of The Pharcyde's 1992
debut _Bizarre Ride II..._ was a good indication of what was in store,
then you can be sure that The Pharcyde knew what they were doing here;
the band, subdued, under a starry night-sky in smooth white tuxes.
Before they were characterised by a manic (sometimes verging
on *sick*) sense of humour interlaced with a human frailty rarely heard
in hip-hop circles - how many rappers do you hear talking about getting
dumped or not even being able to get a girlfriend in the first place? -
and a sound incorporating everything from sleek, soulful jazz to a
resolutely old-skool flava. 1996 sees The Pharcyde concentrating on
following the smoother path of past glories like "Passing Me By" and
"Otha Fish" without sacrificing any of their skills.
"Bullshit" glides in on a scattering of swingbeat stardust
before "Pharcyde" kicks in proper with *the* definitive Pharcyde rap
which should be blasting out of every vehicle's stereo from coast to
coast.
"Groupie Therapy" demonstrates The Pharcyde approach to the war
of the sexes. While casual onlookers will spot the 'Bitches' and 'Hoes'
and point the finger those that look closer will discover the sting in the
tale :- Fat Lip phones his girlfriend to tell her he loves her before
disappearing with a groupie on tour, only to get back and find his
girlfriend has been doing the same thing. And "Now I seek counselling from
a therapist twice a week". Not yer average every-day type rappers.
The Pharcyde once admitted that hip-hop still hadn't produced a
song that could make you cry (a journalist's slightly suspect
pre-requisite for 'real' music) but didn't preclude the possibility.
Well, "Moment in Time" is a slow soul-full about absent friends that's
"Life is just a moment in time" hook puts a lump in the throat.
Congratulations gentlemen!
And it goes on. Pianos tinkle gently, the double bass ebbs and
flows, the snare shuffles, and guitars pimp like it's 1976 and The
Pharcyde have just meatmorphosised into a hip-hop Isley Brothers. Special
mentions to "Hey You" which is smooth like Haagen-Daas, floating like a
butterfly and stingling like a bee and "The Hustle" which is Saturday
Night Fever dragged into 90's Brooklyn.
"Devil Music" steals in with lyric of the year in its bite-the-
hand-that-feeds chorus of "Every time I step to the microphone/I put my
soul on 2 inch reels that I don't even own" over the album's roughest
beat, before the uplifting "The E.N.D." rides off into the sunset and
rounds off the impression that the last hour has been a genuine bona-fide