A little saga

So, of the neo-prog movemnet, I am probably most fascinated by Marillion and Saga, who occupy opposite ends of the genre. Marillion is a very mercurial, explorative outfit that seems to wrap together Pink Floyd, Peter Gabriel, the Beatles and Radiohead into a wild and clever package that continues to actually progress from release to release. Saga however, it a guily p[leasure -- a throwback to AOR/Hard Rock, with oddly just left of mainstream lyrics (not really deep, but not shallow pap, and not anywhere nearly as pretentious as say, Dream Theatre)* , and smatterings of fusion and weird new-wave noodling. I do recommend picking up either The Beginners Guide to Throwing Shapes or the more recent House of Cards. In the meantime, there is this rather quick interview with Sadler, where he comments on how a Canadian band makes its bread and butter living from audiences as far afield as Venzuela and Germany (including upstaging Elton John, which is always a worthy achievement serving the betterment of society).



* Oddly enough, I think Saga's lead singer Michael Sadler, is the one man who could turn DT into a worthwhile musical concern.

Garage Pressure

There are some tasty casts building up in the Garage. Check it.

New Releases

7th Octave's The Se7enth Degree & Public Enemy's New Whirl Odor are the two latest releases on Chuck D's own SlamJamz label, I know next to nada about 7th Octave, but I have high hopes that the newest PE release will be something of measure. While even bad PE is generally (at least in terms of lyrical value) several cuts above what is commonly on radio, there is no doubt their output since He Got Game has been of a mixed nature.

Ryan Adams 29 - the enfant terible of the alt-country/folk-rock set unleashes another of his little albums. I am actually getting a little tired of Ryan (I have thought him good if not a bit overrated compared to contemporaries like the Jayhawks and especially Chris Whitley), but he beats Bryan Adams by a country mile.

Since I haven't heard what the status of Pharcyde is these days (one of hip-hops underrated crews by a wide margin) the current/past member Fatlip sends out to the people Theloneliest Punk (an obvious sendup of Thelonius Monk, as this writers own moniker is). I suspect as long as he hasn't gone all bling and ho on us, this may be a sleeper album of quality.

Alison Goldfrapp and her band of the same name release an EP of sorts this month supposedly. Will this mark an even closer step to her desire to become the next Debbie Harry? Like the coke-swept Debbie of the 1970s, not the current Debbie (who still sounds great, but is less an enigma than a "She looks like owns a lot of cats" )

Imogen Heap, whose debut was good, and staggeringly brilliant with Frou Frou, finally gets her sophomore solo record Speak for Yourself out in US stores as a domestic release (its been out in the UK for months). I'll make this real simple: this is worth all your piggy bank money. It beats the tar out of anything Bjork has done in her entire career,and shows the kind of bravado that I typically would assign to Kate Bush, only less hermetic in its strangeness.

Mrs. Elvis Costello, aka Diana Krall (who I begrudingly like in small doses, like her spots on Geoff Keezer's album Turn Up The Quiet) provide Christmas Songs; the latest addition to the useless holiday album flood.

Rob Swift lets out War Games, stacked with guest spots, including the long out of the limelight Large Professor. This is a just war to buy into.

Slipknot 9.0: Live two CDs of more utterly uninventive slag from everyones least interesting band of rawk doodz in hobo circus couture. I thought these fools were too busy suing Burger King to make more of this sonic sewage.

Gilles Peterson Presents the BBC Sessions is his latest collection of sweet cuts, peppered with test pressing/unreleased tracks from various performers (including the Roots). Like every single thing Gilles touches, its worth a listen or 10.

Cher, a woman who has now been more altered than the Bionic woman, only whose face is stiffer than Lindsay Wagner's acting and whose music is now part of a regular schedule of spirit-crushing boredom released as often as sexless soccer moms and gay karaoke bar crooners can purchase, gives us a DVD: Extravaganza Live. While gifted with a meatier voice than some of her peers, her material is horribly inane and the production seems customized to scrape any hint of humanity.

She is not the only person who should be put out to pasture that is releasing DVDs; the 2 notables this month is Yngvie "I need a Haircut and a Punch in the Neck" Malmsteen, and R. Kelly, that degenerate reprobate of recycled R&B. The former unleashes Concerto Suite for Electric Guitar and Orchestra, which should be leashed (and put down). I am sick of this idiot. Just drop his flabby velvet-pants-wearing gumby frame on a fjord to die. As for R. Kelly, he is releasing Trapped in the Closet Chapters 1-12. After his psychologically flatlined performance on the MTV awards not too long ago with some of the material here -- do you really want a longer, more damaged run of it?

In terms of DVDs worth buying, Duran Duran has Live from London, which is from their reunion of the original quintet for the tour supporting last years Astronaut album. I have seen a few clips from various performances they have done on TV and online, and thy would appear to hold up a respectable live show.

Youssou N'dour , the towering musical touchstone of Dakar, Senegal, has a must-see Live at Montreux 1989-1995 out later this month. Youssou, like Salif Keita, is a colossal figure in modern African music, and his live shows are legend. With a swelling tenor, and a huge ensemble of ancient and modern instrumentation, his Mbalax style is a treat, even if you do not understand Wolof.

Rumors that the long-awaited Gathering DVD from Killing Joke will finally see shelf-space, but given their typical patterns, it will likely be delayed until the early months of 2006. Look out for it anyway. I caught them live in 2003 and they are still raw power incarnate.

There are a set of re-issues from former members of The Band out on the OPM label:

Rick Danko Crying Heart Blues
Garth Hudson Our Lady Queen of the Angels
Richard Manuel Whispering Pine: Live at the Gateway

If you were ever a fan of Dylans initial electric period, or are a Band completist, then these are likely must haves. Robbie Robertson however, is nowhere on the list of re-issues. No idea why.

Zwan - Honestly (video)

Oh, Billy. You were far too happy and bordering on well adjusted with this phase of your musical career; your adolescent, angst-laden core fans couldn't understand. Poor sods.

Zwan's debut album was also its swan (Zwan?) song. This was the only video I ever saw by them, for the lead-off single, Honestly. It was a watchable clip, with a few things done right (appropriate focus given to the only decent looking creature in the outfit, bassist Paz Lenchantin being the most notable) and everything else being very run of the mill. Lots of pseudo-moody lighting in blue tones, or starlight backdrops which always seem to make me think of "If they even made them, what would Hawkwind videos look like?", and a few rather eye-catching sweeps with a circular performance view (3rd panel moving clockwise from top inthe image here).

Now you are back to almost posturingly dreary and even taking out full page ads to old band members to reform the Pumpkins while you release tepid, sterile solo efforts. You'll figure it out eventually.

The Legend of Dub Quixote

Well, maybe not legendary...yet. But as audioblogs go, Dubquixote got some sweet dubstep science being formulated.

Giant Step @ 15

Giant Step is a truly sacred NYC institution. It has been 15 years since its inception.

Happy anniversary yo.

Danielia Cotton

So I was looking at the latest live dates for Living Colour and noticed they are plugging her the opening act a little. She seems pretty good, albeit a bit to standard blues for me. The live video of her performing Hendrix's Red House was admirable, and some of the sample cuts are promising.

Ella (video)

Taped from the cable channel that plays German news and programming for what seems like only half the day, this is from a 60s performance of Summertime by Ella Fitzgerald.

Ella was not a pretty woman, but when she sang, it was resoundingly beautiful. Every note was heartfelt, every iota of anguish and joy sweetly sincere.

It is interesting to watch someone like Ella then, who looked so classy, yet sang with no fear of breaking a sweat and getting physically lost in the music, as opposed to the wannabe "divas" these days, who in a split decision between having a follicle out of place or hitting a pinnacle moment in performance, always fret over the former instead of reaching forthe latter.

Chocolate Genius is back!

So it appears that Marc Thompson's alter ego, Chocolate Genius, is back. This time its Chocolate Genius Inc., but nonethless this looks to be another stellar collection of raspy vocals, soulful narratives, and rooted in the kind of attention to songcraft that makes its a true alt-rock treasure. Somewhere between dirty folk and an urban arcane smattering of rootsy rock, CG is somewhere floating in a range that covers Elliot Smith and David Ryan Harris, and veers all the way to Tom Waits in the gutcheck department.

Featuring an all-star cast (Abe Laboriel Jr., Meshell Ndegeocello, Marc Ribot, Van Dyke Parks , Trixie Whitley* among quite a few others), this looks like a solid follow up to his criminally underappreciated first two albums, and the first effort since his appearances on the sophomore Sweetback album, Stage 2.**

* Trixie is not quite an all-star, but she is the daughter of white chocolate genius Chris Whitley.
** Sweetback is essentially the backing band of Sade, including Stuart Matthewman a.k.a Cottonbelly. Their two albums have also featured brilliant newcomer Aya and established stars Maxwell, Amel Larrieux and Ivana Santilli.

New Releases

Aerosmith - Rockin' the Joint - Live from the Hard Rock :

1. The Geritol seems to be working, because these folks still seem to be playing catch up to the Stones for length of overstay.
2. Like the Stones, the guitarist is still more interesting than the singer, who seems to get more attnetion because of his ridiculous antics and warped facial anatomy.
3. This album is live, but their music as of late seems quite dead (at least since "Hangmans Jury")


Berlin - 4Play: I like Terri Nunn's voice, and Berlin had glimmers of brilliance in their heyday. I am suspiciious as to what a covers album years after prime will be like, but given what I have read, Nunn does not take herself too seriously, which means she does this for fun and not to rekindle past glory, which may actually result in something decent. I am actually interested in what her take on PRince and Bowie is. And I am sure anyone covering Marilyn Manson is an improvement over MM himself.

Breakestra - Hit the Floor :
'Tis fonky.'Tis featuring at least one guest spot (the Jurassic 5). 'Tis worthy of purchase.

The Talking Heads, America's greatest art-school post-punks, are having their entire studio output reissued with bonus material. All 8 releases: Talking Heads ’77, More Songs About Buildings and Food, Fear of Music, Remain in Light, Speaking in Tongues, Little Creatures, True Stories and Naked are being overseen by Jerry Harrison of TH and longtime engineer ET Thorngren. Seeing as David Byrne has long stated he will not reform TH, this is probably the last hurrah to get what may be left in the vaults. Once in a lifetime indeed.

Buckethead opens the coop again and so... Enter the Chicken
I never liked System of a Down (SOAD) as much as their hype grew to. They are ambitious and technically skilled, but largely cold and uninteresting to me. However, the idea of frontman Serj Tankian signing free-range guitarist Buckethead for another release of musical madness, strange concepts and KFC buckets as headwear makes for raising of eyebrows. Apparenytly this album has quite a few guest spots, but I am quite sure it will still be extremely Buckethead, which is to say largely uncategorizable. He is Bill Laswell's secret weapon against the sonically dull, and even Axl Rose could not figure out wtf to do with him (Thank God). This guy makes Primus seem like a Vegas lounge act by comparison.


The most fleet-fingered bassist to come out of Quebec, longtime Uzeb leader Alain Caron is striking out solo with a self-titled. While I have always admired his skill as a bassist, I cannot help but wonder if this will just sound like another Uzeb album, which is to say fusion still somewhat mired in its 80s contrivances.

For reasons that still surprise me --largely because its not even Halloween yet- Faith Evans unleashes on us A Faithful Christmas (I cannot stand Christmas albums. I will faithfully avoid this )

Mariah Carey - Merry Christmas: (did I mention I hate x-mas albums)

Meat Beat Manifesto - Off Centre: This is a compilation of rarities and odd and ends from the venerable Jack Dangers, who in this writers opinion, has nevere been accorded his due as the top notch studio jock and sound architect that he is. His work with NIN, Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy and many others is testimony to his wide range and ability.

Also on the collection of odds and ends tip is Prince Paul (Handsome Boy Modelling School, Vernon Reid, Yohimbe Bros., De La Soul, ect) who drops Hip Hop Gold Dust

Compost is one of the best labels out there, focusing on funk/soul/broken-beat/acid jazz. I have yet to encounter a bad release from these guys, and I am sure Michael Rütten Presents: Soulsearching, The Compost Radio Show - will be also good. I can never recommend enough their Fueled For The Future series.

Smooth Sax Tribute to Norah Jones - The title alone should indicate all the many levels of deep wrongness and evil badness brewing here. Wrongness, badness...

Japan's greatest export...

...isn't cars, gadgets or tweaked animated epics. It is Ryuichi Sakamoto.

Doesn't matter if it is his avant-garde Neo-Geo experiments, his techno-pop days in Yello Magic Orchestra, or his many varied solo projects. His output is largely consistent in quality.

I watched my VHS copy of his video for Risky, which had a subdued Iggy Pop on vocals. Made me put his score to the Bertolucci movie Little Buddha on.

King Crimson - Exiles live (video)

So this is from a widely and very long circulating bit of unofficial footage from a TV show performance in the mid 70s of King Crimson. KC is at its best on a stage instead of a recording studio (although it does sometimes make a damn fine studio effort), and while the recording quality is sub-optimal, this brief clip shows both the strengths and comedic weaknesses of KC at times.

Let's take this frame by frame, top to bottom.

1. Robert Fripp, who always plays sitting down, and normally has looked like a British schoolmaster, here looks like a cross between the school librarian and the chemist at a Hell's Angel methlab. As is to be Frippish, his hands do some amazing gymnastics, but the rest of him is almost completely inert.
2. Bill Bruford, the mercurial and meticulous keeper of obscure time signatures. Bill, the man who understands how to dissect beats into infinite new variations. Bill, the fully grown urban man wearing overalls and looking like a dairy farm urchin after the morning udder check.
3. John Wetton as the solid keeper of low frequency tidal noise, with his fabulously feathered hair and poor selection of shirt. As I have stated before, John is a weird beast; the man who helped birth the album Red for King Crimson, also gave us several albums of Asia beyond its expiration date.
4. David Cross was doing the violinist as rawk dood long before that guy in the Dave Matthews Band. David didn't last too long though, as eventually, he could not cut across the tsunami of caustic aural calamity KC would veer towards. Here, he provides eerie phrases and short passages of atmosphere-building swells. He also provoides the most bulbuous hair of the bunch. He does get the best bad, tripped out body aura TV special effect, complete with most eye-gouging colors.
5. Jamie Muir as....a total lunatic. Apparently a very soft spoken man in person on stage he was a sputtering, out of control freak with blood capsules and bizarre outfits (and this is even by 70s standards of fashion), all while playing a cacophonic array of percussive effects, knick-knacks and whistles. He later left and joined a Buddhist onastery in Scotland (they have those there????)

Overall, the weird body halos and skittish zooms make for rather strained viewing (I am not apt to take LSD just to enjoy a video...or much else forthat matter). Who are we kidding, the colors are at times so loud, Ray Charles could see them (and he is not only blind, but dead).

TF on Tool

They are like an intro band for some of the darker, more experimental art-rock out there. Like if Fisher-Price made a My First King Crimson Knockoff

Cumbia Flatheads

Feel el Flasho Ritmo.

Citrus Sun - Another Time Another Space

Citrus Sun
Another Time Another Space
2001 Rice Records/Heads Up International


This is not a Citrus Sun record. It's an Incognito record. It's Incognito acting its namesake. And while this record veers closer to the smooth jazz side of Incognito (which is to say Incognito really has become an acid-jazz band that gave itself a second life as purveyors of slightly more ambitious quiet storming). Why is this Incognito? Because it is an album "conceived and produced by Jean-Paul 'Bluey' Maunick" and Bluey is the same guy who conceives and produces and plays on all Incognito records.

It also features many players who have either regularly or sporadically played on Incognito records: Fayazz Virji, Graham Harvey, Gary Sanctuary, Richard Bailey, Max Beesley and Bluey himself in a few spots.

How does this stack up? Well, it lacks Maysa, Kellie Sae, or any of the other vocalists typical to a Bluey release, so that element leaves quite a few of the compositions a bit stark, and forcing the group to delve a little too far into Najee-esque softness on its reliance on things like Ed Jones playing soprano sax as he does on the 6+ minutes of Budapest. Soprano sax has been raped of relevance and listenability in most soul and jazz by that Ghengis Khan of tacky idiocy that is Kenny G (Pat Metheny knows your true name fool). The result is the only place to hear good soprano is on more straightahead jazz like on albums by Wayne Shorter ond Branford Marsalis, or going back to Eric Dolphy and/or John Coltrane

When the group plays more bass and rhodes heavy foundations, the results are a step up; Somewhere Nowhere and What it is are prime examples. The bass and drum parts are solid, which is typical of a Bluey production, but the rest is too faceless and run of the mill smooth-jazz, that unless you are an actual fan of the genre or a hardcore devotee of Bluey, you will most likely find this release a bit lackluster.

In the little corners...

...you find some things.

I was just scuttling along DevArt and made my way to CellointheBasement, which then led me to an offsite link to her musical project Birdseyeingit

The main site only has one track looped and playing, but it is a lovely, sparse ditty with flashes of rhodes, sweet vocals by Sarah Ruba and a lo-fi brilliance about it all around.

New Releases

Audio Bullys Generation. While certainly a decent outfit, AB are not ones to produce timeless classics. That being said, this release will apparently have at least one guest spot with Roots Manuva, making it worth hearing for at least that alone.

Jneiro Jarel Three Piece Puzzle. Jneiro is Ropeadopes secret weapon. A great new find and I suspect this will cater to not only the Ropeadope crowd, but also followers of artists like Jurassic 5 and Mod Def.

Stevie Wonder A Time 2 Love. I have not heard a note of this, but I am crossing my fingers. Stevie is a national treaure, whose last dozen years of output has been so tarnished compared to the 70s, when his light shone so bright. I do not expect another Songs in the Key of Life, or Innervisions, but I want something better than In Square Circle.

Boards of Canada Campfire Headphase. I still have not heard enough to decide what I think of these guys, but they appear to have this coming out.

Chris Botti Still in Love. Another Miles clone in tone, but lacking backbone. Botti makes very pretty sounding wallpaper music. Considerably more evolved and complex than true smooth jazz a la Kenny G (aka the anti-Christ), but often far under what he is capable of doing. To this, look for his contributions to BLUE with Bill Bruford, Tony Levin and David Torn for a real idea of what he is capable of when he pushes himself and is surrounded by musicians of superior caliber.

Simply Red Simplified. I have heard this is a greatest hits of a sort, with various re-records of classic tracks, and a few new ones. Given the better than expected results of Hucknall's last effort, Home, this one might be a good listen, although I still think SR really lost something with the departures of Fritz McIntyre and Tim Kellet.

Depeche Mode Playing the Angel. Their first in four years, this is rumoured to be a return to a more brooding, sullen Depeche Mode. Maybe Dave is back on horse, or maybe Martin finally realized how stupid his hair looks and the resulting depression brought them back to form. Who cares? This looks to be one of the better releases before the closing of 2005.

DVD Chick Corea & the Elektric Band Live at Montreux 2004 Chick Corea's electric output since his Return to Forever days have been largely unecessary. I would surmise this is as well.

Al Franken The Show Party Album Al Franken is also a big fat idiot. He isn't funny, and he isn't interesting.

Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra featuring Wynton Marsalis Don't Be Afraid...the Music of Charles Mingus. I suspect that Wynton trying to interpret Mingus will be much as his interpretations f Monk were; technically executed well, but utterly devoid of the spirit and unbridled adventure that compositions of Mingus would demand.

Tim Garland If the Sea Replied. I have no idea who else is on this and what its premise is, but I have enjoyed Garland in his roles with Geoff Keezer and as the latest brassman in Bill Bruford's Earthworks. He is a decent sax player and good at arrangement, so hopefully this won't disappoint.

Goapele Change It All. Just buy it. She is one of the Bay Areas best kept secrets. A soulful, sweet voice that fits well between your Me'shell N'degeocello and Mary J. Blige recordings.

Ashlee Simpson I Am Me. We know you are you. We have been trying to avoid you, but you keep showing up, mostly on Saturday Night Live, but at least now you did it without a backing track. That being said, your first single still sucks, as does most likely the rest of this album, which appears to look like your debut, mark II.

The Fixx The Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Anthology is a 2CD retrospective. There are numerous compilations of Fixx hits and rarities out there, but this one looks to be the most canonical and best sequenced of the lot. The Fixx are still going, and while their new material is admirable, one really has to credit them with making one of the smartest pop music of the New Wave era. Cy Curnin has always been one of the better vocalists to emerge from that period, and Jamie West-Oram belongs right up there with U2s Edge and Charlie Burchill of Simple Minds for his use of minimalist, open structures on guitar, rather than just aimlesss wankery.

Funkadelic will be reissuing a ton of their albums, including Cosmic Slop, America Eats Its Young, Standing on the Verge of Getting It On, and the uber important ichiban supabad Maggot Brain. Buy them all. Twice. Send the extras to friends who need some funk in their lives. Everyone should.

There is also supposedly a trio of DVDs coming out from Nina Simone, Ella Fitzgerald and the ever watchable Frank Zappa. Whether it is newly unearthed material or archival reissues I am not sure yet.

The Whispers - Rock Steady (video)

Walter and Wallace Scott helped found and lead this LA-based quintet for over a quarter of a century, and they have amassed a string of R&B chart hits, as well as some level of crossover appeal, mostly during their years on the Solar label, from which their most known hit, Rock Steady is taken, and for which this eminently cheesy video is made for.

Rock Steady is not a deep song. It's not even a very romantic one. It is largely just lucky enough to have pop hooks catchier than SARS, powered largely by the swelling doo-wop meets new jack swing attack of the Whispers. The video is mostly performance footage at a soundstage cum dancefloor, where the Whispers strut their limited dance moves --and boy does the cinematography milk as much mileage as possible from that-- and unlimited collection of badly-cut suits, looking like a Temptations knock-off band playing to an empty crowd in Vegas. Interspersed is random dancers, all female, doing their thang. As videos go it is pretty nondescript compared to some of the faire that was out during the late 80s.

Shaggy w/ Janet Jackson - Luv Me Luv Me (video)

Pop-dancehall fiend Shaggy had a b-grade hit with Luv Me Luv Me, which had a chorus hook by Janet Jackson, who was smart enough to appear nowhere in this goofy and mostly lackluster video that loses its appeal after only 2-3 views.

As his contribution to the How Stella Got Her Groove Back film, which starred Angela Bassett (who was not smart enough to avoid being in the video), this song and its accompanying vid are pretty much stock standard Shaggy: girls (lots of them), hamming for the camera, and fashion that looks like a Jamba Juice franchise merged with a brothel.

Of particular mention is the repeating motif of Shaggy in green pimp-suit and fedora singing between two columns of platform-heeled, bikini-clad women, which appears to have been ripped stylistically en toto from David Lee Roth's California Girls video from a dozen years before. Also of note is the Shaggy and women in a large sea of fruit, doing not much of anything. Very citrus, but also very stupid.

Duran Duran - Pop Trash

Duran Duran
Pop Trash

Personnel:
Simon LeBon - vocals
Nick Rhodes - synths
Warren Cuccurullo - guitars, guitar synths

Duran Duran is a rather odd bit of pop trash, both as a band, and in terms of this self-titled album. The album clearly has a sound about it that could be really stated as trashy sounding pop, but sometimes its trashy in that gaudy, obnoxious, glam way all fans of the double D have come to love, but some of it is trash in the please-put-this-out-with-the-rest-of-the leftovers. In the former category, you have the requisite references to chemicals, dead icons and encounters of questionable repute; Hallucinating Elvis, Lady Xanax and Mars Meets Venus fit here. In the latter category, you have utterly nondescript balladry and insincere bluesy fluff, which in this case rsults in The Sun Doesn't Shine Forever, Pop Trash Movie, and the insult-to-the-Beatles stinker Starting to Remember. There are also a pair of odd cuts that are both admirable, if only for being a bit different, and oddly enough, they bookend this rather pedestrian release: Someone Else Not Me and Last Day on Earth.

LeBon sounds like he is trying to sound growling and gritty, and it just does not suit him. Rhodes seems to be idling in much of the softer tracks to inane effect, and the only person who seems comfortable in this inconsistrent mess is Cuccurullo, who has generally been underutilized (not that it matters, because he is no longer with D2). About the onoy real true to form aspect of this release that is absolute archtype Duran is the packaging which features the trio looking as gaudy, coiffed, coutured, and scrubbed into glammomatic fabulous proportions as they were in their heyday. That being said, they still lack the class of Roxy Music, Japan and David Bowie, who they have pilfered since their earliest days.

If you can find it in the bargain bin or pick up tracks selectively on iTunes go for it. Otherwise, this is right around the same level as Thank You (did you actually listen to their cover of 911 Is A Joke by Public Enemy?) and Liberty.

Baltimora - Tarzan Boy (video)

Oh a oh a oh a oh where to begin. In what was one of the catchier one-hit wonders of the 80s, by this one man outfit (although which one man is in doubt)*

Tarzan Boy as a song is utter fluffy pop. It has survived as a touchstone of the period not in spite of, but apparently because of its disposability. The video on the other hand, should never have been made, unless its intent was to feed the adjective-laden ramblings of people like myself when we revisit this optic offal.

It is horrid. It is basically the worst gay karaoke bar fantasy gone wrong. With effects that induce immediate nausea, and frontman Jimmy McShane in what can only be described as Salvation Army meets Tarzan couture, with added makeup debacle courtesy of some 3rd grader handed facepaint and held up to McShane's face.

Whoever choreographed this paramilitary assault on the eyes had to have been taking some potent Sterno and LSD cocktails while watching old Tarzan movies. He should be hunted down and beaten to within a foot past his life.



* There are conflicting stories about who was Baltimora. The songs were written by a Mauricio Bassi, but some credits him also with singing and Jimmy McShane with just being a precursor to Milli Vanilli, others that McShane did in fact do the singing. Well, McShane has been dead since the mid-1990s and Bassi isn't talking.

We all need some Living Room

...well, maybe. I recently, after years of trying, scored a copy of Deserto Azul, from the now defunct outfit Diva (I am seeking their other albums, so if any of you lovely people have them, I have cash). Diva was a wild mix of shimmering dreampop, early 80s goth moodiness without the heavy Victorian undertones, and a meticulous attention to detail in terms of sound. You could hear bits of Cocteau Twins, the Dream Academy, Kate Bush, U2 guitar minimalism, and on this album, a little bit of trip-hop.

In any event, they broke up somewhere in the late 90s, and some members have apparently moved into Living Room, which is more electronica-centric. Some of it sounds decent, some of it a bit staid. That being said, give it a listen.

JBK - _ism

Jansen Barbieri Karn (JBK)
_ism
1999 Medium Productions/Polydor KK

Produced by: JBK

Personnel:
Steve Jansen: percussive and ambient loops, samples, radio, melodica, harmonica, bass synths, electric piano, additional key s, vocals, drums
Richard Barbieri: keyboards, bass synths, hammond organ, harmonium, electronics, piano, electric piano
Mick Karn: fretless/processed/fuzz bass, additional piano and keys, backing vocals, clarinet, bass clarinet, saxophone, wooden flute

additional personnel:
David Torn: slide/acoustic rhythm guitar, electric guitars, loops, acoustic and electric ouds
Aziz Ibrahim: guitars
Sugizo: radio violin, apeggio guitar
Zoe Niblett: vocals, backing vocals
Masami Tsuchiya: backwards guitar
Theo Travis: saxophone samples (taken from Indigo Falls)*
Nick Cooper: celli, cello
Clive Bell: thai flutes & khenes, flutes

This is noted as the first official full JBK album, although truth be told, these three folks have been working together in various combinations since the late 1970s (as three fourths of Japan and its early 90s one-shot reunion Rain Tree Crow, as guests on each others solo projects, and as guests on others - they played on several Jakko projects, and Barbieri is now a regular member of Porcupine Tree). I am led to believe this is their first full collaborative effort from start to finish under their own names mayhaps?

In any event, JBK is a rarity - megachops, no wanking. As you can tell by the personnel credits, the boys are all multinstrumentalists and exceptionally solid players (particularly Karn, who I would argue is the only bassist since Jaco Pastorius to do anything original on the fretless bass). They occasionally get aggressive, but JBK music in general is a more relaxed affair, with the 3 personalities melding into a comfortable mid-tempo to chilled out pace. But make no mistake, this is not elevator music! No no no my friends. This is quirky pop structures played through a musical blender that mixes organic instruments with electronic washes, and ethno-beat compositions that span from Brasil to Morroco to the Celtic Isles.

The album starts with one of its kickers, The Shallow Pool, which slinks and slithers with its almost upright sounding bass and 16th note high-hat pattern, and Steve Jansen sounding dangerously close to his brother in the vocal department (the enigmatic David Sylvian, who was the 4th member of Japan and Rain Tree Crow), dark and seductive. From there it goes down an eerie path with To The Core which mixes Zoe Niblett's vocals and some tempo changes to make a track that is equal parts Portishead and Kate Bush. Sacrifice, Beast Haunted, and Found in a Shell or Murmurs fall into the realm of "Could have come off of Passion", the Peter Gabriel soundtrack to the movieThe Last Temptation of Christ. There you have dreamy synths, and the creeping sound of Karns bass clarinet seeping into your ears, and a distinct Maghrebi/Middle Eastern symphonic feel. Carry the Ashes makes you think of what you would hear as you made your pilgramage across a nondescript desert - thin layers of delicate sounds placed one atop another, eventually building to a full change five and a half minutes into the track (most compositions fall into the 4:30 to 7:30 minute range).

Red Track Danceplays like a warm Massive Attack song, with a more plaintive vocal track than one would typically hear on a MA album. And Cold Light comes dangerously close to releasable as a single, with a very infectious fuzz bassline, and a melody line even a fan of the bland can follow.

Now, JBK is still somewhat adventurous stuff, so if you only like serrated buzzsaw guitaronics, or the latest in disposable pap, then this is not for you. If however, you tend to plod the land where folks like Massive Attack, Peter Gabriel, and Brian Eno tread, then you are in good shape. This is a pretty lush but lean album (it opts for layering sounds and performance rather than simply innundating the listener with every bleep/sample/noise it can throw), and carries the listener along rather than pushing them.

* Indigo Falls is the name of the band and album that is Richard Barbieri and his wife.

RATM - Saturday Night Left (video)

A now historic performance at Saturday Night Live by Rage Against the Machine shows an early RATM in top performance shape, but much of what annoys me about them on record and video is magnified here:

Zach De La Rochas self-absorbed pontificating/left-wing bleating gets old on album; it gets really old watching him scream it live and posturing like some wanna be Gil Scott-Heron in a string of b-boy stances from the 80s and the occasional punk-styled stomping (which given the sulking whininess of Zach, looks more like a childs temper tantrum than anything else).

Tom Morello (aka, I am trying to be Vernon Reid, DJ Kool Herc and Jeff Beck at the same time) sounds fantastic, but is a very rigid on stage for the most part. That would be ok were it not for the fact that he appears at several junctures to be trying to jump start his body into doing something spontaneous and lively -- only to sputter and burn out in a flurry of more chords and feedback.

The standout presence, even though the camera crew focused little on him, was Tim Commerford. A hulking, stalking mass of low end power, the few moments you saw him he seemed to be the most compelling presence of the outfit.

The song was Bulls on Parade, and in and of itself it sounded really good.

Joy Division - Shadowplay (video)

Ah, the irony of Joy Division. There was so little joy in that group, least of all in frontman Ian Curtis, who offed himself soonafter their ascendance into mainstream acceptance. This of course led to the remaining members taking the somber, melancholic dirges and skittish post-punk of JD and turning it into the electro-psychedelic noise of New Order.

This is a promo performance clip of JD doing Shadowplay, whereby the core JD elements are there: Bernard Sumner and Peter Hooke barely moving at all and essentially shoegazing as they minimalistically plug away, and the vacillation between statue-like lack of motion and bursts of gonzo movement by Curtis that can only really be described as semi-rhythmic convulsions not unlike running a strong electric current through a wet noodle. They were quite an odd outfit.

We will write lines...Apollo 9

Well, I am unapologetic about many of my musical likes, and this one is no exception: Adam Ant.

While the lad has been in quite some trouble in recent years, with his various run ins with the law (tied to his bi-polar disorder apparently, which goes largely untreated), he seems to be picking up the pieces a bit; a contribution on Lavender Pill Mob's debut (members include a few ex-Ants), and writing a memoir, apparently without the benefit of a ghostwriter. Remastered albums appear also to be on the way.

Looks like you will be fine, even if NASA says you out of line.

Level 42 - Who said this was a good idea?

I have been a rather consistent fan of Level 42 since their 1985 US breakthrough Something About You. I stayed through their first post-Gould brothers release, and even the largely uneven Guarenteed. I even bought Mark King's second solo album, One Man (which was really one mistake). I even have enjoyed some of the more recent live material that Mark King has released with a somewhat cobbled together band hawking themselves off as Level 42, even if King is the sole original member left. So I have some fan cred here.

With that in mind, the video for 1987s Children Say is a joke. It is so bland it makes watching Yanni exciting. Filmed after Boon and Philip Gould bailed the group, it shows mostly random shots of King and Mike Lindup interacting in crowds and mugging for the camera in between short shots of various precocious and annoying-looking children doing a neo-Bob Dylan and holding little signs with bits of lyrics or a note that a solo was playing.

Given that this band produced one of the best conceptual videos of the mid 80s with Something About You, and some rather above par performance-oriented material --the title track from Running in The Family comes to mind, of which Children Say was also taken from-- , it is a shame how fast they dropped to the point of generating about as much sizzle as reading year old People magazine issues in the dentists office.

I think the children would say this is naff. So do adults.

New Releases

Since I skipped last week, here is 2 weeks of short shots:

Audioslave Live in Cuba - (a) probably the most exciting thing to happen to Cuba in quite a few decades, and (b) still a relatively boring post-RATM leftist spectacle marred by its own self-indulgent pretensions. Stick to music and stop with the moronic radicalized jibberish. In the new media, everyone wants to be Che Guevarra for 15 minutes.

Nickelback All the Right Reasons - there are no right reasons for Nickleback releasing another note of music.

Steven Wilsons two main projects are having re-issues put out; No-Man has Flowermouth and Porcupine Tree Stars Die: The Delerium Years 1991-1997. Both probably have bonus tracks and other goodies. Personally, I prefer No-Man, but Porcupine Tree seems to be his hot ticket these days.

Kyle Eastwood Paris Blue - this is the long anticipated follow up to his debut, From There to Here. Kyle apparently inherited his father Clint's (yes, that Clint) love of jazz, and is a very listenable bassist and bandleader.

Digable Planets Beyond the Spectrum: The Creamy Spy Chronicles is a collection of singles, remixes and rare tracks from the recently reformed jazzy hip-hop trio. Borne of the late side of the acid-jazz movement, their sound reflects that same loose, funky, soulful and positive vibe (and a lot of pot references). Excellent stuff, of which I got a taste over the PA at Armadillo Records in Davis just this week.

Ricky Martin Life - if you buy this album you have no life.

Dangerdoom (a.k.a Danger Mouse and MF Doom) The Mouse & the Mask. Oddly enough, this appearsto be on the Epitaph label of all places, but then again, given the proclivities of both of these artists, they may be more punk than most (at least in attitude). Essentially anything MF Doom touches is at least worth giving a look-see.

Sevendust Next - I do not have much hope for this, given they have yet to make something since Home to really have a majority of fetching tracks.

Tha Alkaholiks Firewater. One of the more underrated party units of 90s hip-hop, the 'Liks are back and probably worth a listen. Fun and funky for your next college keg slam.

There are various, curious DVD releases this month: Jesus Jones Live at the Marquee (amusing, but not sure what to make of it), Joe Zawinul and Weather Update & Pixies Sell Out (both must-see). Charlie Hunter is putting out Solo Inventions, and I am not sure if I want solo Hunter, as I think his groove works best in an ensemble setting. The eternally bad to the bone rocker George Thorogood sets 30th Anniversary Tour: Live out to the feathered hair contingent, and chances are it will be a solid show from the biggest bluesy bar-rock act on earth. In the WTF category, we have Twisted Sister Live at Wacken - The Reunion.

Fiona Apple finally gets Extraordinary Machine to officially see the light of day. Although I hear it has had some significant, and possibly ungainly modifications made to seperate it from the leaked version of last year (which was a delicious and beautifully crafted collection of tunes destined to crush the Norah Jones set into oblivion).

Frankie Goes to Hollywood Welcome to the Pleasuredome - this has been re-issued so many times it seems to be Trevor Horn's crowning achievement he has milked it so far beyond anyones anticipated shelf date.

Cream Royal Albert Hall, London, May 2-6 is a dual cd tour de live force from one of the greatest rock acts of the late 60s. I have not heard anything other than the live shows this is culled from were quite spectacular apparently. We all know Clapton, Baker and Bruce still know how to play like monsters if they choose to (Clapton rarely does, and Bruce and Baker rarely don't), so this could actually live up to the hype.

Andy Gill and his not so merry Gang of Four have a two fisted attack coming. The very limited run Dollar Bill (10,000 copies only will be pressed) and Return the Gift, which appears to be re-recordings of old material (which Gill felt needed the benefit of todays recording techniques and yesterdays fermented bile). This looks to be exceptionally good and well worth paying the extra buck, especially for Dollar.

Banks of Fish - Another Murder of a Video

And so today we have a rather obscure (even by my standard) video by one quiet member of a rather establishment rock group (one Tony Banks from Genesis) and one loud former member of a lesser known neo-prog rock group that started as largely emulating the former (one Fish, formerly of Marillion).

Tony Banks' solo output is often quite spotty and on his early 90s release Still, he mixed randomly very proggy bits with very poppy bits and ended up with not much of consequence all over. However, one can at least draw fleeting amusment from this video for Another Murder of a Day, which you can tell is destined for greatness when the first thing you see is a field with sheep. From there it just gets goober-tastic. Basically it involves Tony and Fish roaming about said field/orchard area on rickety bicycles, being oddly happy over a song that --like many Fish-penned lyrical jaunts-- is really not a happy one. Maybe its the sheep. Maybe it is the emaciated blonde in the lacey dress from an 80s cliche wardrobe (see below). Maybe its the bowler hats.


Maybe its being left in a tree in a poorly constructed comedic moment. Like many videos of its kind, it is funny when its trying to be serious, and boring when its trying to be funny.

Me, I just like knowing that when Fish ever complains about Marillion getting too pop after his departure, that I can hurl this albatross around his neck for sight and sound.

United Future Organization - 3rd Perspective

United Future Organization
3rd Perspective
1996 Mercury/Antilles/Verve

Produced by UFO

I had picked up 3rd Perspective in another cut-out bin foraging expedition many years ago (it was a booklet-less promo copy for $2.99) and considered it a genuine find at the moment, because I had so thoroughly enjoyed their two previous releases which I had payed top dollar for. Needless to say I never at the time really got into it, as it lacked the sprawling fun and globetrotting decadence of its predecessors.

I don't think I had listened to it for 5-6 years, and picked it up tonight on a lark. I am somewhat glad I did. It bore a re-listen. It still has the shortcoming of being a little too fixated on the spy-movie sountrack vibe (although it works deliciously on a few cuts, most notably The Planet Plan and Nica's Dream), and the odd fixation on what I can only describe as very period French sounding in a way that makes you think more of berets and baguettes in 60s Paris instead of the seedy grooves and cross-pollinated funk of their No Sound is Too Taboo album. There are a few spots that link back to that --in my view-- core UFO approach: Cosmic Gypsy has the piano vamp and horn figures with Latin American vibe cutting through that makes it prime Gilles Peterson remix material, and His Name Is... marries Massive Attack style trip hop and dub with sleek flourishes of flute, dark piano phrases, and fleeting references to Kung-Fu adventure.

Maybe that is a good way to look at it; as a mix of Massive Attack and the James Bondian side of Propellerheads. I do not know if I would recommend it outside of hard core acid-jazzers, but it has some good chill cuts for the house martini party. I do think thier first 2 albums and most of their remixes for others are key though.