 |
ISSUE NO.
| theBeat |
| RED Reviews |
| By Jamie Gadette, Brent Sallay and Autumn Thatcher |
|
Rock N Roll Ryan Adams is many things to many people—heartfelt singer-songwriter, noisy punk rocker, pretentious hipster-wanker…the former Whiskeytown frontman is loved and hated with equal aplomb. After his country-alt band went the way of the buffalo, Adams quickly pursued a solo career, churning out two albums in two years. Both 2000’s Heartbreaker and 2001’s Gold were met with critical acclaim, the latter garnering him significant mainstream fame. Adams was on top of the world—so he decided to drop out. He holed up in an apartment in New York City and committed himself to discovering a new sound. Oddly enough, that newly appropriated musical ethic is just as scattered as are his various public personas. Stranger still is the appeal of this unusual hodgepodge as it plays out on Adams’ latest effort, one that makes Rock N Roll a testimony to the power of appropriation. Although one could read the album’s proliferation of influences as uninspired, it seems fairly obvious that Adams is simply trying his hand at brilliant mimicry. Listen as sad strains of the Smiths dance with Gary Numan bass lines. Marvel at The Replacements guitar hooks and wish for another line about being “totally fucked up,” because that’s how notorious rock stars should be. Sure it’s cliché, but it’s catchy—and standards are the basis of classic rock and roll. At least give Adams credit for emulating quality sounds. “1974” and “Note to Self: Don’t Die,” for example, echo early Alice Cooper, from the snarly vocals to lyrics about the city as “an animal ready to eat,” “caged animals starving for class” and a girl with “dirty knives hidden in her dress.” Parker Posey (Adams’s latest sweetie) appears on the latter track, doing her best to impress Joan Jett. “Anybody Wanna Take Me Home?” is prettiest of the bunch, a sweeping ballad with jingle-jangle chords and enough heart to negate all of those subjective comparisons that made Adams into a parody of himself.
Rock and Roll might not be wildly innovative, but it’s certainly
enough new ground for a musician bent on reinventing himself.
Beep! There simply aren’t enough records featuring a decent supply of catchy hand claps. Fortunately, Will Sartain is determined to fill the void. Of course, that doesn’t mean his debut solo album is all fun and games. On Beep!, the bassist for local indie-art-rock band Redd Tape successfully walks a thin line between playful experimentation and deep thoughts. Mostly this collection of self-penned songs is, well, sweet—not sappy-crappy, but rather simply endearing. It’s comforting to join Sartain as he sorts through emotions, brazenly wearing his heart on thrift-store sleeves without fear of consequence. On the opening “Face Against the Glass,” Sartain ventures that “what you wanted was the last thing on my mind,” although it seems likely that most of his thoughts are worthy of embrace.
Even more appealing is the way in which he welcomes others to join
in this process of self-discovery and disclosure. Sartain isn’t
pining, musing or sulking—he’s attempting to figure
things out, like countless souls looking for their best, personally
suited path.
In all truth, pinning down the exact source of resemblance is unimportant
as Sartain emerges from Beep! an accomplished artist of his own
regard. The inventive instrumentation (complete with bells and whistles)
and varied song structures demonstrate his ability to take chances—and
still keep his feet on the ground.
Takin’ it to the Streets Well, you can put those days behind you, dear reader. Cuz this week, we took the back seat in our fashionable RED Vespas to let a few normal folk, not unlike yourself, sound off about the latest hot releases. [Translation: I made a bunch of my friends listen to what I was going to review this week, and I put all of our reviews side by side, so you can decide for yourself who you want to believe. It’s a little segment I like to call “Takin’ it to the Streets.”] RED would like to thank this week’s willing participants: Tyler Evans of the Nene (formerly the Fitness)—-who will be opening for Will Sartain’s solo show at Kilby Court, Friday, Nov. 21—-Tyler Bloomquist, David Sallay, Sarah Smylie and Jason Avelar.
Andrew Broder follows up his gorgeously quirky Ether Teeth (released earlier this year under his Fog alias) with Modern Hits, a smart collection of lo-fi, indie-fied remixes of some popular rap and hip-hop artists like Outkast and MF Doom. He even manages to get Jay-Z and Nas to sit next to each other on the bus. Another nice disc, More Modern Hits, features more tracks from Missy Elliott, Kool G. Rap and Eric B. & Rakim.—BS “For all those people out there who insist that rap and hip hop aren’t actually music. Incredibly musical and interesting. This is music that will bring people together.” —DS “This is just plain fun, making the music sound like the words feel. On par sonically with anything Timbaland or The Neptunes could dream up. Simply a good idea.” —TE “Very interesting music. It grows, changes, folds in on itself and keeps moving forward regardless. Never gets dull or hung up in experimentation. Yet there is a gap between the rap and the music, as though separately they are great but together they don't really jell as well as they could.”—SS
Muted If there’s one label you can always count on to surprise you, it’s Anticon. Rapper-producer Alias takes a drastic change of pace to put out Muted, a highly accomplished instrumental collection of tight beats and bittersweet melodies that’s doing a pretty sweet job of tiding me over until the new Dntel and Boards of Canada releases expected early next year. And when the Notwist’s übercool Markus Acher guests on “Unseen Sights,” it’s everything The Postal Service promised, but never quite, ahem, delivered.—BS “Mostly obscure samples and beats, rinsed and re-rinsed in raw harmonics. If you like Anticon, buy it. If you like hip hop, buy it. If you like good music, buy it.”—TB “It’s something you could have on in the background and easily enjoy. Alias can create a memorable melody and he has the beats to back them up.”—SS “It has a very primitive feel. This could all serve as the soundtrack for a neo-modern retelling of some Shakespearean tragedy. It’s much more musical than most electronic stuff.”—DS
The Chocolate Wheelchair Album Canadian aural sociopath Aaron Funk puts out yet another drill-’n’-bass album (his third or fourth this year—-I’ve lost count) as if it were just like breathing to him. Breathing, that is, assuming that the guy breathes vitriol and razor blades. While certainly not to everyone’s (or most people’s) tastes, The Chocolate Wheelchair Album by Venetian Snares proves to be a highly intricate and invigorating album for those who are patient enough to let it grow on them. And if ever there were a song that demanded a video, it’s “Herbie Goes Ballistic.”—BS “I like this, but there were too many useless vocal samples chopped up during most of the songs. The Richard D. James Album by Aphex Twin or anything by Hrvatski are along the same lines and much more enjoyable.”—TB “Some advice to Venetian Snares: you're not Aphex Twin, so stop trying to be. You are boring.”—TE “OK, but somewhat of a mess. Some structure within a song isn't too much to ask. These beats lacked any sort of cohesion.”—JA
Wherever I Am I Am What Is Missing Laika is the smooth, spacey, chill-out rock band named after the first dog to be sent into outer space that really wants you to know that they are named after the first dog to be sent into outer space. In fact, Wherever I Am I Am What Is Missing is Laika’s first album (of five) that does not feature some sort of reference to a dog and a spacecraft on its cover art. So it’s not too surprising that this is a bit of a departure from the band’s previous work. All in all, Wherever I Am I Am What Is Missing is a more accessible album, though some might miss the more varied instrumentation of the band’s past work.—BS “Sounds like a low-rent Madonna during her electronic phase, but oddly enough, I don't mean that as an insult. The background beats were good (consisting mainly of moody drum/bass concoctions), and fit nicely with the female vocals. The nuances in her voice contributed to the music, which is more than I can say for some music like this.”—JA “Not bad, not really good. This style has been done to death—-you know, a nice female vocalist with that trip-hop, loungy, urban cool feel. All I can think of is being someplace like a hip clothing boutique and trying on insanely overpriced jeans, but if that’s your cup of tea…”—TB “Pretty cool and upbeat, but none of it struck me as memorable. All the songs just kind of sounded the same. Would be fun at a party, but I don’t think I would rush out to buy it.”—DS Go After taking four years to extensively tour and re-group, Vertical Horizon is back with the release of its fifth studio album, Go. The album is comprised of 11 fresh songs that don’t stray too far from the sound that gained the alternative-rock band a platinum-selling reputation in Everything You Want. The songs on Go do, however, possess a slightly heavier sound. The album opens with “When You Cry,” which nearly deceives the listener into believing that he or she is hearing the band’s hit song, “Everything You Want” all over again. This worry is soon relieved by the chorus through the lovesick voice of lead vocalist Matt Scannell revealing that, “It only hurts when you cry/I’m only sad when there’s tears in your eyes/I can lie and say I’m fine/but it only hurts when you cry.” As is the tradition for Vertical Horizon, the lyrics of nearly all of the songs center on an individual who is on and off with the person he loves. The various songs point out that he will never be good enough for his lover, while at the same time, forcing memories of a broken heart to surface. Though this album isn’t a groundbreaking record, it pleasantly mesmerizes, perhaps turning into one of those guilty pleasures that you don’t want to admit you have. The lyrics are almost too simple, but the instrumentation makes up for this lack of depth, resulting in a romantically concise album that, in some areas, maintains a new edge for the band.—AT
Ruckus Galactic’s fourth studio album, Ruckus, bounces back and forth between instrumentals and vocals, with more attention to song structure than the band’s live performances and previous albums of heavily jam-based music. The first song on the album, “Bittersweet,” is one of the best songs on the album. Vocalist Theryl “The Houseman” DeClouet’s bluesy voice has an in-your- face attitude when forcefully crooning, “Touch me and you’ll be struck by lightning.” The song possesses elements of soul, funk and jazz, which is much of the style that makes up the album. The inclination to love this album based on the opener may be a bit premature, as the remainder of the songs have a tendency to drag through the CD’s 44-minute runtime. Though
many of the songs may not cause the listener to replay the album
as soon as it ends, they do reveal drastic changes. Lengthy instrumentals such as “Bongo Joe” shouldn’t discourage listeners from finishing the album. Though the song becomes slightly repetitive, it has enough funk to keep things interesting. Perhaps the two best elements of the album are Stanton Moore’s drumming and Ben Ellman’s harmonica and saxophone solos. The
album’s sound is rather funky but still maintains elements
of groove-based fun. Longtime fans of Galactic need not be disappointed
by this record—instead, enjoy it for the changes it introduces.—AT |
(of 5)
RED Magazine is a publication of The Daily Utah Chronicle. RED is published every Thursday. For information on advertising, call 801-581-7041. To have your event considered for publication, write to jeremy@red-mag.com. Copyrighted material remains the property of the original owner.
Web Site Copyright 2003
