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==== ISSUE 101 ==== CONSUMABLE ======== [February 27, 1997]
Editor: Bob Gajarsky
Internet: gajarsky@email.njin.net
Sr. Correspondents: Jeremy Ashcroft, Dan Enright, Reto Koradi,
David Landgren, Sean Eric McGill, Tim Mohr,
Al Muzer, Jamie Roberts, Joe Silva, John Walker
Correspondents: Daniel Aloi, Lee Graham Bridges, Scott Byron,
Janet Herman, Bill Holmes, Eric
Hsu, Tim Hulsizer, Stephen Lin, Scott Miller,
P. Nina Ramos, Linda Scott, Scott Slonaker,
Simon Speichert, Jon Steltenpohl, Courtney
Muir Wallner, Simon West
Technical Staff: Chris Candreva, Dave Pirmann
Address all comments, subscriptions, etc. to gajarsky@email.njin.net
==================================================================
All articles in Consumable remain (C) copyright their author(s).
Permission for re-publication in any form must be obtained from the
editor.
==================================================================
.------------.
| Contents |
`------------'
INTERVIEW: Squirrel Nut Zippers' Tom Maxwell - Joe Silva
REVIEW: White Town, _Women In Technology_ - Bob Gajarsky
REVIEW: Mazzy Star, _Among My Swan_ - David Landgren
REVIEW: The Art of Noise, _Drum and Bass Collection_ / _The
FON Mixes_ - Jamie Roberts
REVIEW: Various Artists, _The Smiths Is Dead_ - Bob Gajarsky
REVIEW: Bjork, _Telegram_ - Eric Hsu
REVIEW: Big Head Todd and the Monsters, _Beautiful World_ - Simon Speichert
REVIEW: Longpigs, _The Sun Is Often Out_ - Simon West
REVIEW: Greg Kihn, _Horrorshow_ /_The King Biscuit Flower Hour
Presents Greg Kihn_- Daniel Aloi
REVIEW: Drain S.T.H., _Horror Wrestling_ - Linda Scott
REVIEW: Arcanum, _The Spoken Scream_ - Bob Gajarsky
NEWS: Depeche Mode, Dread Zeppelin, London Suede, Melankolic, Moe.,
Sand Rubies/Sidewinders, Waitresses
TOUR DATES: Backsliders, Bally Sagoo, Better Than Ezra / Jane Jensen,
Bloodhound Gang, Camber, Lisa Cerbone, Cordelia's Dad, Shawn
Colvin / Freedy Johnston, Connells, Cordelia's Dad, Coward,
Cracker, Cravin' Melon, Donovan, Jason Falkner / Silos, Mary Ann
Farley, Goldfinger / Reel Big Fish, Dave Hawkins, Hazies, Humble
Gods, Humpers, Irving Plaza , Joykiller, Local H / Failure,
Luciano, Metallica / Corrosion of Conformity, Moe./Sweet Vine,
Nancy Boy, New Bomb Turks, Odds, Pen Pal, Plexi, Professor &
Maryann, Rasputina / Cranes, Samples / Stir, San Francisco
Noise Pop Festival, Sebadoh, Sick of It All, Sissy Bar, Sister
Hazel, Sno-Core Tour, Space, Sterling, Tool / Melvins, Type O
Negative / Sister Machine Gun / Drain S.T.H., Urchins, The Urge,
Volebeats
Back Issues of Consumable
---
INTERVIEW: Squirrel Nut Zippers' Tom Maxwell
- Joe Silva
As is right by most Amerindie standards, the stage of
Athens, Georgia's 40 Watt Club remains the unadorned
pedestal of several generations of DIY rock heroes and
associated wannabees. Typically met at all flanks by
clutches of boho-baggy clad boys and girls who are usually
greeted by the mumbles and indirect glances of those they've
come to worship, the welcome cry of "Buh-ruthers
and Sistas!!" goes out to meet the throng. In the half-light,
evening jackets and strands of faux pearls can be seen
muscling for hip swinging room alongside the staid band shirts
and random piercings. The Squirrel Nut Zippers take the
stage armed with swing, smiles, and a flu bug that's
unoticeably tagged a few key members. The horns are
phat, the furnace is lit, and the the first congo lines
probably ever seen within the club's dingy walls are
drawn in the sands of the altera-nation. A day or so
later, Tom Maxwell elucidates from a hotel room the
satisfaction of the post-inaugural buzz and the stress
of being hot.
Consumable: Someone at the label (Mammoth) told me you were
sick during the Athens show.
Tom Maxwell: Oh yeah, absolutely. It's a winter tour
my friend. Jim (Mathus) and Katharine (Whalen) had
to actually go to the doctor. In fact, I spent the first
song and a half deciding whether or not I was going
to pass out.
C: And you had just come from the Inaugural didn't you?
TM: Yes, we played the inaugural ball. What a
whirlwind. We played a Rock The Vote party
the night before at this restaurant called the Red
Sage and astoundingly enough it made the front cover
of the Wall Street Journal, "Hottest party in town,
music by the Squirrel Nut Zippers." It was basically
like a frat party because there was too many Goddamned
people in there, but everybody looked great and one
of them happened to be Kevin Costner. Every so often
I'd turn around and there would be Uma Thurman or something.
C: I know there were a lot of parties up there, but was
there any sort of theme to the gig you played?
TM: Yeah, we were at the 21st Century Ball, the so-called
youth Ball and it was held at the Postal Museum.
C: So were you guys onstage when the President came in?
TM: No, I don't think anyone was onstage, because when
he comes in, they have a big 'ol lockdown and they pick
a few representatives from each band to come up. So like
a clutch of security guys come in and gather up everybody
in some room and basically I got to peek through a
curtain at the back of his head. However, Jim and Katharine
were onstage and they got to meet the President and
Vice-President and their wives. They were thrilled
to death. It's incredibly surreal.
C: Didn't you guys do a long engagement at the Olympics?
I remember thinking that when the bomb went off, that you
were one of the bands down there that week.
TM: We had played our last show the night before and I guess
it happened late Friday night, early Saturday morning. We
had really been held up getting out of town because the
President was coming in. So we go up to Asheville and play
a show and somebody comes up to us and says "Did you
hear about the bomb?" and we were just crushed. That
experience had been so positive for us. There was really
a good spirit there...a great spirit. For whatever reason,
we were part of a southern music showcase, and they
put us up in a dump of a motel but with all these
great cajun fiddlers, Austin two-step bands, American
Indian singers. So we all instantly congregated on the
deck outside of the bar and held jam sessions nightly until
six in the morning each night. And soon the performances
at Centennial Parl became secondary to these incredible
jam sessions that would take place.
C: Now just taking those two events into account, do you
guys consider yourselves "made" yet?
TM: If anything we're going to have to start cloning ourselves
to meet the demands being made on our time. We just started
receiving some airplay on some big FM stations and now the
ballgame is starting to change. We've gone from the kind of
band where it's "Just do your records, and do your thing." to
"Jesus, we NEED a video and we need it right now!!" So we're
kind of stunned. We spend most of our time being exhausted.
C: Did you guys put out a video for this record?
TM: Yeah, well I got to direct a video for "Put the Lid On It,"
but then came the one-two punch of that it didn't turn out
to be the radio single and MTV wouldn't play it because we
intimated that we might burn a house down. We're shooting
the video for "Hell" the day we finish this tour. It's my
goal to set it up to be as much like the Lawrence Welk
show; the way it's lit and shot and the costumes. How can you get any
better than that? I really want it to look like a late 60's broadcast.
C: Now is the third record more or less in the can now?
TM: Yeah, just about. It's recorded, mostly
mixed and we're going to master it out on the west
coast. We recorded it in an old house in my hometown
of Pittsboro, North Carolina. We had convinced the
label to let us do it ourselves. Instead of going back
to a studio, we took the money that was going to
be advanced to us and bough or borrowed a bunch of
a recording equipment. We brought up Mike Napolitano
how worked with us on _Hot_, and we just set up
this house. I mean the plumbing needed fixing, the
foundation was rotting, the electric wiring was
primitive to say the least and the heat wasn't on.
We had to get all this shit fixed up, and get this
equipment in, but it was a good old North Carolina
house. One room has a high ceiling and it sounds
good, and every room has different personalities
and we made a record. However hectic and stressful
a time it was, I think we knocked one out of the park.
I think it's better than the first two put together. We
were able to realize more of the production sound
that we've been trying to go for even though we were basically
reinventing the wheel. Not everything worked out as well as we
would have liked, but I think it starts where _Hot_ left off.
C: So how will that work now? I think you called it
from the stage, that this would come out in Spring.
TM: Not even brother. Summer or fall. We're pushing
it back a little bit because somebody smells money
on _Hot_. We're going to strike a delicate balance,
because the band wants to keep rolling and putting
out material. I don't want "Hell" to be played into
the ground on FM radio and to have people get sick
of it. This new one is more like Big Star's _Third
Record_. The songwriting is really great, but there's
also times when things kind of break down. We were
making weirder sounds on this record than we ever have.
I feel like we've gone onto a new level. It was like we
were getting our sound on _The Inevitable_, we became
a live band for _Hot_, and then on this record there's
this new thing going on that's weird and great.
C: I know you guys are into people like Cab Calloway
and Fats Waller, but do you find yourselves going back
to that well for inspiration or is that music around
you so much that it's ingrained at this point?
TM: Both. I actually wrote a tribute song to Fats
Waller's guitar player Al Casey on this record.
I got to meet him and it was the thrill of my
life. And I wrote a song for him. There's also a
song on there that's kind of a tribute to Cab
Calloway. I really didn't think about it when I
wrote it, but when it came out, I was definitely
going for that Cotton Club orchestra sound. So I
always go to that well. But even our weirdest and
darkest moments, I think we retain some of that
sensibility even though on the face of it what we're
doing doesn't bear much of any resemblance. It's
just damn good music. Are you saying that we're
at the point now where we can be musically self-sufficient?
C: Yeah.
TM: I think we always have been in that we haven't
covered people's songs or lifted people's riffs. We've
just always tried to go for the emotional nut of the
thing and proceed from there.
C: Does anyone ever come up and accuse you of
being derivative in that sense?
TM: Never. Never to my face. If some people come
away feeling like that, they don't ever tell us
about it. Besides by and large, I don't think most
people have ever heard of these guys. Rock and roll
didn't pick up on a lot of the things that were in
pre-war jazz that we like and jazz disassociated
itself from it and denied it. And when they do talk
about Fats it's much more of a condescending thing.
I mean they can't deny how popular he was, but nobody
is interested in giving him credit. I think he was the
greatest thing in the world.
C: But it's amazing how now that you guys are htting your
stride, whether it's commercially or just getting a bigger
fan base, you see things like swing nights in Atlanta rock clubs.
TM: Well, that's cool. I don't know how much we had to do
with that. Of course everybody wants to contextualize
what we're doing, which is the last thing that we want to do.
C: What sort of response do you get from older people?
TM: Overwhelmingly positive when we can reach them.
For example, you're not going to reach these people
playing the 40 Watt in Athens. But when you do NPR
people hear it. When we play early shows in Chapel
Hill, for instance, we're able to get the twelve year
olds that love us and the seventy year olds. The people
seem to be universally excited about it. But the market
is devisive where they say "You fit into this six year
age range, by God, and we don't expect anybody else
to listen to this." And it can be extrapolated just
as easily to race. I talked to our label about how can
we get black people to come out and they looked at
me like I was from Mars. "They have their own charts."
is what was told to me. Which is true, but it's FUCKING insane!!
C: But considering some of the roots of the stuff you're
doing, it seems sort of logical.
TM: Sure, it did to me too, but that doesn't seem to
be theway that things work out. I mean there are black
people that are fans of ours, but the percentages are
infinitessimal. We don't even physically move in the same circles.
C: Is the dynamic changing for you at all now that things
are taking off?
TM: Well we just fired our bass player, which was a traumatic
thing to do. That was a thing where friction that might have
been there when we were all dishwashing chumps didn't
make a difference and now three or four years down the
road, we couldn't work together. It was very painful for
everybody. When money gets involved everything changes.
And when you're not allowed to get together in a relaxed
manner and enjoy each others company and play music, it's
a sad thing. When we see each other, it's associated with
being tired, sick, being on the road, humping and doing our
thing. But right now the band's getting along great. We
split the publishing money equally, not just to the songwriters.
But you know, I've been in the thing for three years now,
and one day it will derail, but I'm just trying to do the
best job I can now and see this thing through.
---
REVIEW: White Town, _Women In Technology_ (Chrysalis/EMI)
- Bob Gajarsky
A bonafide Internet user hits the jackpot, and thus establishes
himself as a net.legend...
30 year old Jyoti Mishra has been working as the main focus
of the English band White Town since the late 1980s. Early gigs
supporting bands such as Primal Scream and the Sea Urchins were
the precursor to independent singles on his own Satya label, and
eventually on the Parasol label. Several White Town songs appeared
on independent compilations, and his debut full length, _Socialism,
Sexism and Sexuality_ didn't generate much interest outside of his
native land. Up until this point, White Town's tale sounds like
hundreds of other independent bands who can only see their name
in the trades if they purchase an ad.
But something went terribly wrong - or right, in this case.
Mishra soon decided that "I was fed up with playing the guitar...I
started moving more into a sample-based synthy direction", and
recorded new songs, including the wonderfully infectious "Your Woman".
Released as part of a four-song EP (_Abort, Retry, Fail?_) in
England, radio programmers loved it. And this rags-to-riches tale
started to blossom Mishra from a caterpillar into a butterfly.
Defying all odds and debuting at #1 in the UK, "Your Woman"
includes a sample of a 1932 jazz hit, Lew Stone and the Monseigneur
Band's "My Woman". The sample (not unlike what the Squirrel Nut
Zippers are using, but from the original release), hooks up with
the Buggles radio static on "Video Killed The Radio Star" and a
healthy dose of keyboards similar to St. Etienne to create a track
which might just be heard on American radio all through the spring
months.
"Your Woman" was truly a DIY project - recorded in Mishra's
spare room, and this was a deliberate action on his part.
"The whole point of me recording at home," states Mishra, "is to
stay out of all the airless, artless studios scattered around the
country where music is machined to some technical level of
acceptability. Consequently, _Women In Technology_ is *full* of
clicks, pops, earth hums, and bum notes."
However, just as Soho failed to clear proper credits from the
Smiths with "Hippychick" (and wound up giving 25% of their sales to
Morrissey and Marr for "How Soon Is Now"), Mishra learned the
unfortunate rule of clearing samples first. Now, as he recalls,
"30% of the royalties (from "Your Woman") go to the publishing company."
The unfortunate part of the album is that, not unlike the
Primitive Radio Gods' "Standing Outside A Broken Phone Booth With
Money In My Hand" (which sampled B.B. King), people who buy _Women
In Technology_ to hear 12 songs identical to "Your Woman" will
likely be disappointed.
Much of _Women In Technology_ has a Johnny Hates Jazz meets
the Dream Academy feel to it - slower, synthesizer-driven tracks.
Some of the slower tracks from Cause & Effect's _Trip_ would blend
nicely with this collection. Probably the best example of this is
on the soft "A Week Next June", where Mishra's vocals sound a bit
like Paul McCartney on this nearly-acoustic track.
"Going Nowhere Somehow" is another track which immediately catches
the listener's ear with a unique sound similar to the slower side of KLF
(think: _Chill Out_). But in a world of niche-marketing and radio
programming, it probably *won't* be the listener who has heard "Your
Woman".
What does the future hold in store for Mishra? He's currently
being courted by Madonna's Maverick label - and the most recent artist
that she took such a strong personal interest in was a Canadian named
Morrissette. Took home a couple music awards here and there. He's
also decided to cover the Magnetic Fields "Famous" for his next EP.
And, in between jetting to the U.S. and Europe, you might
just catch him on the Internet...
---
REVIEW: Mazzy Star, _Among My Swan_ (Capitol)
- David Landgren
_Among My Swan_ is Mazzy Star's third album. The first
album, _She Hangs Brightly_, slipped unnoticed past many, this
reviewer included. On the other hand, a lot of people sat up and
paid a lot of attention to their second album, _So Tonight That I
Might See_.
Credit must go to the suits for not pressuring Dave Roeback
and Hope Sandoval into cashing in on their new-found fame with a
formula copy, but instead letting them take all the time they needed
to work on the new album. In many ways, the gamble paid off: this
album is not so different from _So Tonight That I Might See_. The
bluesy fragility and country melancholia is still very much present;
much of the percussion is nothing more than a simple tambourine,
and the instrumentation hovers between an acoustic or electric
guitar, with a few basslines or violins dotted here and there.
The album opens on a sleepy track "Disappear", with Hope
sounding only half-convinced that the album has started, and a
guitar doodling around upon waves of heavily distorted electric
guitar way down in the mix. The second song, "Flowers in December"
picks up, with acoustic guitar and tambourine providing the backdrop
to a harmonica intro that sounds like the melody to The
Go-Between's "Quiet Heart".
As the songs go by, it becomes clear that Mazzy Star are
intent on pursuing a precise direction in their music. While the
first album was a quirky patchwork of different writing styles, the
second album slimmed down the variants and on this album they have
reduced their margin of manoeuvre down to almost nothing. The first
four songs blend into each other with little differentiation; all
stripped down to the bare bones of delicate guitar noodlings,
laid-back percussion and Hope's vocals. Which makes for excellent
the-party's-over late night listening.
Which makes "Take Everything" a bit of a kicker. The song
starts out much the same as the previous tracks, however, it builds
up considerable intensity and lifts the album up a notch. Possibly
due to William Reid returning a favour (Hope Sandoval added the
vocals to the Jesus & Mary Chain track "Sometimes Always" on
_Stoned and Dethroned_), to lay down a JMC guitar riff on the song.
Briefly, taking in the rest, "All Your Sisters" is an
absolute gem. Down the minimalist path again, with only an
acoustic guitar to accompany Hope. "I've Been Let Down" and "Look On
Down From The Bridge" are the two most overtly country-sounding
tracks. "Umbilical" is very much the song "So Tonight That I Might
See, Part II". Same guitars going beserk in the background,
exploding like fireworks; along with "Roseblood", with its
reverse-gated guitar.
_Among My Swan_ is an album that begs to be considered
as a whole. It's not the sort of album to be heard in shuffle
mode. It deserves to be listened to from start to finish to get
the most out of it. That said, in all honesty, if you don't have
the budget to both this and _So Tonight That I Might See_ then I
would class STTIMS as being more important. So get that first, and
if you like it, you'll probably winding up purchasing _Among My
Swan_ anyway. You won't be disappointed.
Resources on the net: there isn't a lot out there. The
best bet is to scan the newsgroup alt.music.mazzy-star for current
information.
---
REVIEW: The Art of Noise, _Drum and Bass Collection_ (Discovery)
_The FON Mixes_
- Jamie Roberts
The Art of Noise are one of the most sampled bands in music
history. Pieces of their work are found in some of the most popular
music of the past 13 years (The Prodigy's "Firestarter" comes to mind
among many many others). Their beginnings in 1983 saw them as a
faceless studio-bound vehicle for Trevor Horn, and their body of
work created "...the blueprint for new styles of hip-hop and
electro-rhythms" and became "...a crystal ball of hardcore
technology". Now we come to the stage where the very people who
were moved by AON's early works to create on their own, come "home"
and put their spin on the work of their mentors.
_The FON Mixes_ are the hardcore's response to their
historical influences. Each original Art Of Noise track is re-mixed
with a burst of energy from noted mixers like Mark Gamble, Youth and
Richard H. Kirk of Cabaret Voltaire (using the pseudonym Sweet Exorcist).
On the _FON_ CD "Peter Gunn" is mixed with "Dragnet". It
gets really campy and exaggerated using vintage Art Of Noise echoes
and backbeat as it lumbers along. This Mark Gamble mix of "Peter
Gunn" is as right-on representation of the original track, as his
mix of "Yebo" is abstract. With its ominous beginning, and its
blend of African chants with mechanized beats, there is not much
of the original to be heard in this mix, which runs just short of
two minutes. "The Art of Slow Love" is brilliantly re-done by Youth
starting off a bit like Primal Scream's "Loaded" easing into a long,
slow, sexy groove. Samples of "Moments In Love" are sprinkled
throughout the track, seemingly reminiscing about the original AON
track.
_The Drum and Bass Collection_ tackles many of the same
songs, but with a more textured approach. This collection features
mixes from ILS, Flyright, Lemon D (from Metalhedz) and Lightfoot
among others. I was not readily familiar with the work of these
mixers, as many Americans will not be, but their work on this CD
speaks volumes.
Flyright tackles "Peter Gunn" in a way that is diametrically
opposed to Gamble's (from FON). Completely unrecognizable as "Peter
Gunn", this track speeds along at a breakneck pace. There is no
exact pattern or reason to this mix of the track, but that is what
grabs your attention, and keeps it to the end. The bassy meandering
of Lightfoot's almost-six-minute version of "Yebo" makes its
numerous tempo changes with low-key grace. The levity with which
ILS attacks "The Art of Love" is not at all like Youth's 'Slow'
version. It owes more to break-beat in the beginning, and its tempo
changes plateau at an ambient groove.
The Art Of Noise has contributed a great deal to the music we
all listen to. Getting your music from the very source of this genre
will show you how it has developed over the years, and will allow
you to pick out samples from this often credited group. Using the
old AON albums as reference points and comparing the mixes is as
enlightening as listening gets.
---
REVIEW: Various Artists, _The Smiths Is Dead_
- Bob Gajarsky
Outside of R.E.M. and U2, the Smiths are the best-known band
around the globe from the "alternative" branch of the 80s.
And no one can bring his fans to tears of joy and adulation
as quickly as Morrissey. Therefore, with millions of worldwide
fans of the Smiths, it would seem natural that these people would
be the perfect target audience for a tribute album of 1986s _The
Queen Is Dead_, aptly titled _The Smiths Is Dead_.
Think again.
The liberties taken on _The Smiths Is Dead_ by many
of the individual bands are quite different from the original
Morrissey/Marr compositions - and in the process, will likely
anger devoted Smiths fans who long for music which stays
true to the originals.
The ten song compilation (which follows in identical
order to the 1986 classic) leads off with The Boo Radleys version
of "The Queen Is Dead". The "Wake Up Boo" band completely ignores
their leanings towards the 60s pop sound and while omitting the
"Take Me Back To Dear Old Blighty" intro from the Smiths, does
their best impression of Portishead's "Sour Times".
Slowing down Marr's instrumentation is a tactic utilized
several times throughout the songs. The Divine Comedy sound like
Crash Test Dummies on their walk through "There Is A Light",
and the High Llamas do their best psychedelic Beach Boys on
"Frankly Mr. Shankly". The Trash Can Sinatras unfortunately lack
the passion which drove "I Know It's Over" - and, of course,
Billy Bragg couldn't slow "Never Had No One Ever" down
much more than the original, and it's interesting to hear Bragg's
accent replacing Morrissey's.
Don't get the idea that the entire compilation is a walk
in the park. Supergrass come off as a super-cool garage punk band (!),
wailing away on the drums for "Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others",
and Placebo do Morrissey's sneers justice in "Bigmouth Strikes Again".
Therapy? toss in some slightly different guitars on "Vicar In A
Tutu", and press darlings Frank & Walters and Bis contribute on
"Cemetry Gates" and "Boy With The Thorn In His Side", respectively.
This was originally issued through France's Les Inrocktuples
magazine, and has since found its way to import racks in the states
and many areas of Europe. Music industry insiders looking for a
change of pace from the daily grind have fallen in love with
this compilation, and those fans of the current British alternative
scene will likely want to purchase a copy as well. However,
_The Smiths Is Dead_ should come with a warning sticker: "Not for
the Morrissey worshipper."
---
REVIEW: Bjork, _Telegram_ (Elektra)
- Eric Hsu
A few years ago this would have been called "a bunch
of remixes." But now remixing for the dance floor has become
recognized enough as an art that this can be hyped as "radical
reinterpretations" of songs from Bjork's last album _Post_ (get
it? Telegram... Post). That's a pretty fair description:
basically, the record is a bunch of covers of _Post_ songs for
which Bjork was kind enough to show up and sing vocals.
Some of the more extreme remakes include the ever-dabbling-
in-rock Brodsky Quartet (remember their string quartet version of
"Purple Haze"?) who do a chamber music version of the lovely
"Hyperballad", and Outcast who do a grindingly techno version of
"Enjoy". Dobie has thrown in a reggae dub into the middle of a
loping "I Miss You".
Evelyn Glennie and Bjork have collaborated on a charming
percussive new song called "My Spine", which is mostly charming
for the novelty of the percussion (exhaust pipes) and Bjork's
spontaneous enthusiasm. Among the other remixers are Mark Bell
from LFO, Eumir Deodato, Graham Massey, Dillinja, and Finnish
techno band Metri. Dillinja revs up "Cover Me" with a big drum
and bass sound that takes the original hanuting piano line and
makes it really catchy.
In the end I find the remixes interesting, but uniformly
inferior to the original mixes. When I listen to the artistic
choices made on this record, it gives me a renewed appreciation
for the skill and tastefulness exercised on the magnificant
_Post_. Bjork comments, "_Post_ has a lot of different emotional
angles on it... I flirt with this idea, but on _Telegram_ I gave
myself liberties to go all the way with that." And it's true. I
think these remixes are best heard as remixes and not as an intro
to either Bjork or these songs. In stretching for emotional
extremes the songs on _Telegram_ often become one-dimensional.
The net effect of listening to this record was to make me go back
and listen to _Post_.
My recommendation: listen to _Post_. If you think it's
awesome and/or like any of the remix artists mentioned above,
listen to _Telegram_ in a store. But psychologically, treat this
as an album of B-sides.
---
REVIEW: Big Head Todd and the Monsters, _Beautiful World_ (Revolution)
- Simon Speichert
As of now, I cast my vote for Todd Park Mohr as songwriter of the
year. The way Todd writes simple pop songs for a three piece band, they
sound like symphonies. There's a certain ambience to Big Head Todd and the
Monsters' songs in that they just seem to fit the mood perfectly.
All the songs on _Beautiful World_, BHTM's fifth album, were
written by Todd, with the exception of "Boom Boom" which was written by
blues legend John Lee Hooker, who contributes guest vocals on the song. The
album, produced by Jerry Harrison (Crash Test Dummies, Live, Neurotic
Outsiders), is comprised of 12 songs. Some of the more outstanding songs
on the album are first single "Resignation Superman", "Tower", "Please
Don't Tell Her", and the aforementioned "Boom Boom".
Big Head Todd and the Monsters are amazingly proficient on their
instruments - what can you expect after over a decade of playing
together? - melding together to create technically perfect songs. Brian
Nevin's drums and Rob Squires' bass, the perfect rhythm section, hold down
the groove, leaving just enough room for Todd's awe-inspiring guitar
playing and singing. Every fan, and even those who aren't, should look up
to Big Head Todd and the Monsters for their ability to function as a
unit.
It's tough to describe what BHTM sound like. Imagine old rock and
roll, real rock and roll, from the early 50's. Then take that and combine
it with modern rock (not alternative, not metal). Take that mixture and
give it to some technically proficient guys with a lot of soul, who love
to tour. Hey, if you've got that, it's a beautiful world.
---
REVIEW: Longpigs, _The Sun Is Often Out_ (Mother/Island)
- Simon West
Yes, another British guitar/bass/drums quartet - hardly
an endangered species these days. Sheffield's Longpigs have
actually been around three years, but only escaped various record
company problems to release their debut a year or so ago, now
finally up for a Stateside release.
It's worth the wait. _The Sun Is Often Out_ is a fine
debut, mixing jangly guitar hooks and a slightly deeper atmosphere
than most of Longpigs' peers with an energetic, distinctive vocal
style that frequently launches into falsetto.
Slightly over to the rock end of the spectrum, Longpigs
display enough style and originality to distinguish themselves from
the pack, from the Radiohead-flavoured pop of "She Said" to the
opener "Lost Myself", which starts out deceptively slowly, before
exploding into a power-chord driven chorus. "Far", a recent single,
is 3-minute pop at its finest, a rhythmic, chantlike verse giving
way to the catchiest of choruses. "On and On" is a gorgeous mid-tempo
ballad, unspoiled even by singer Crispin Hunt's occasional tendency
to sound uncomfortably like one of the Proclaimers. The powerful
"Jesus Christ" is also excellent. "Jesus Christ / I'm on fire when
you smile" wails Hunt in a voice that suggests he's actually burning
at the stake.
Three years into the British indie rebirth, then, and bands
like Longpigs are showing that there's still talent waiting to
surface. Success in the UK could well carry over to the States with
a little airplay - Longpigs, like Kula Shaker, have more of an
'international' accent than Blur, Pulp, et. al, and (Oasis excepted)
this seems to be translating to more success in the States than the
more obviously 'English' sound of yer Casts and Bluetones. _The Sun
Is Often Out_ is never astonishing, but it's a fine record, the best
parts of which suggest real potential for greatness. Not quite
Premier League then, but solid First Division stuff.
---
REVIEW: Greg Kihn, _Horrorshow_ (Clean Cuts/Rounder)
_The King Biscuit Flower Hour Presents Greg
Kihn_ (King Biscuit Records)
- Daniel Aloi
The first thing you notice about Greg Kihn live on CD
is what a masterful power pop songwriter and showman he was.
But the first two things you notice on either of Greg Kihn's
mid-1990s solo studio albums is that he's no longer a power pop
artist, but still a great songwriter.
In the mid-1980s, Kihn was at the top of his game and the
height of his success. He had Top 10 hits on the radio, an
appealing and refreshing image of self-parody in his videos on
MTV, and album titles that endlessly punned on his name (_Next
of Kihn_, _Kihntinued_, _Citizen Kihn_, etc.) His name recognition
at the time was the payoff for more than 10 years of dues-paying,
from his native Baltimore to his adopted San Francisco bay area
home, as his cross-country tours saw him graduating from clubs
and college venues to arenas.
Kihn's strengths come to the fore in the King Biscuit
Flower Hour concert recorded April 22, 1986 in Philadelphia and
just recently remastered and released from the KBFH archives.
Numerous surprises await a 1997 listener; let me spoil them for you:
-> The tour for Kihn's final Beserkley album, _Love and
Rock and Roll,_ featured a then-unknown lead guitarist named Joe
Satriani, whose solos lift the show well beyond the arena-rock
standard and into the stratosphere.
-> The opening "Another Girl, Another Planet" is a fiery
pop song that bears striking resemblance to the recent No Doubt
hit "Spiderwebs." (There goes my chance to sum up this then-and-now
review with "they don't write 'em like that anymore.")
-> 10 years later, it's still safe to say Kihn made some of
the most danceable songs of the post-New Wave era, from "The
Breakup Song" and "Reunited" to "Jeopardy" and "Little Red Book."
The latter must have had the audience bobbing like a sea full of
corks.
-> Kihn does two Bruce Springsteen songs, the wordy 1972
rocker "For You" and "Rendezvous," an uptempo love song from 1976,
never recorded by The Boss and originally covered by Kihn on a 1982
LP. Performed with power and passion, Kihn makes them his own.
-> Kihn shows his sense of humor, and acoustic roots, on a
one-time-only performance of "Imelda Marcos Talking Blues," and
his rock and roll heart (rivaled only by Springsteen at his 1976-78
peak) on two rocking bonus tracks, "Happy Man" and "Testify," from
a 1982 college show in New Jersey. The liner notes manage to cover
Kihn's career in a minimum of words, and he is quoted describing
his approach to rock and roll and songwriting.
King Biscuit has so far released 12 remixed and remastered
shows by different artists, at a bargain price of about $12.98 -
and the Kihn disc is superlative.
Like 1994's _Mutiny_ before it, Kihn's latest, _Horror
Show,_ fits the mold of a solo effort by a mature popsmith who
once ruled the charts - foregoing commercial aspirations for a
personal vision, he hews to artistic truth and yields beauty.
That praise sounds pretty high-minded, I know, especially
for a guy who's folksy enough to seem to be saying "here's my
latest bunch of songs, folks, hope you like 'em" - but the artist
formerly known as "the one who did 'Jeopardy'" is that good at
what he does. But no more arenas for him - he'd rather play the
coffeehouse (or take a regrouped Greg Kihn Band back to the clubs).
Art and literature and history inform Kihn's recent work.
_Horror Show_ opens with Eric Von Schmidt's "Kay is the Month of
May," comparing (like a true poet) a woman to a list of famous
painters. In "JFK," Kihn tries to make sense of the experience
he shared with a nation in 1963. The title track equates love
with a monster movie. (And "Vampira" extends the theme in a humorous
country vein, absolutely no pun intended.) "Noa Noa" continues a
romance with the sea he previously set out on _Mutiny._
The album is direct, honest and heartfelt. From the
evocative, moody original love song "Beam the Light" to a cover
of the bouncy Cajun two-step "Alligator Man," Kihn kindles a warm
connection with the listener. The acoustic arrangements (recorded
with nearly the same cast of Baltimore supporting players used on
_Mutiny_) amble from contemporary folk to country to rock and back
again, and the recording is clean and crisp.
As with his earlier tributes to Springsteen, Kihn continues
to pay his musical influences back, with covers in context with his
new songs - this time with a nice version of Ray Davies' classic
"Waterloo Sunset" and an arrangement of the traditional song
"Trials, Troubles, Tribulations." (_Mutiny_ also included sea
shanties and covers of the Rolling Stones, Buddy Holly, the Velvet
Underground, Bob Dylan and others, along with acoustic Kihn
originals.)
First and foremost, though, the man is a writer to be
trusted - and incidentally, his first novel, also titled "Horror
Show," has been published by Tor Books concurrent with the album.
---
REVIEW: Drain S.T.H., _Horror Wrestling_ (Enclave)
- Linda Scott
Picture a Swedish band and what comes to mind? Roxette?
Ace of Base?
These pop music bands are popular in Sweden and with MTV
and its crowd of music watchers. Drain S.T.H. is a woman's
quartet from Stockholm, but you won't see them singing
pseudo-dramas on the box. Drain is a heavy metal band influenced
more by Black Sabbath than Abba. Along with most hard rockers,
their music and videos aren't getting airplay. In this alternative
and rap-controlled state, those that rock hard depend on the clubs
and music sales for their audiences.
_Horror Wrestling_ - the title refers to wrestling with
problems and horrors of life. Twelve tracks of dark lyrics
underscored by throbbing bass and crashing riffs make up this first
full length Drain album. Lead vocalist Maria Sjoholm and drummer
Martina Axen come up with these raw lyrics out of who knows what
experiences. Guitarist Falvia Canel blasts the occasional speed
metal riff and bassist Anna Kjellberg makes the bass pound.
_Horror Wrestling_ is for metal and hard rock lovers only with its
harmonies that remind one of Alice in Chains and the distant sounds of
Sabbath. Current band favorites are Sepultura and Pantera, and their
current Type O Negative tour cements their position as pounding
rockers - not Swedish cotton candy pop.
The band came together in 1993, but Axen and Canal have been
working together for twelve years. They were quickly signed by MVG
in 1994 and put out an EP and _Horror Wrestling_ in Europe. _Horror
Wrestling_ is now available in the States, and if you live for the
sharp edge of metal, get a copy.
---
REVIEW: Arcanum, _The Spoken Scream_ (2Surreal)
- Bob Gajarsky
And everything we once loved came back again...
Once upon a time, Duran Duran ruled the pop world, and Depeche
Mode and New Order were providing a dancefloor alternative to bad
remixes of generic pop songs. The mid 1980s don't quite seem so
long ago with the volumes of _Just Can't Get Enough_, _Flashback
Favorites_ and _Living In Oblivion_. Rising out of the ashes of
this not-quite-forgotten era comes Marietta, Georgia based Arcanum,
set to kick up the 80s with all new music.
Think of post-Vince Clarke Depeche Mode, or even Martin Gore's
solo album of covers _Counterfeit, combined with early-mid 80s Duran
Duran. As thoughts pass of those hairstyles (and yes, lead singer Shaz