CD REVIEWS
May 1, 2005 12:00 PM
DEATH IN VEGAS
Satan's Circus (The Lab)
Duo throws everything away for hellfire and damnation?
Despite doing what other electronic artists aren't — namely, matching dance music with a live-rock aesthetic — Death in Vegas (aka Richard Fearless and Tim Holmes) was never able to break in the big way many always thought it would. But one thing one could never argue was that the duo lacked inspiration. The group's previous three albums were rich and diverse and featured hip collaborators such as Iggy Pop, Hope Sandoval, Liam Gallagher, Dot Allison, Paul Weller and Bobby Gillespie.
That said, the group's latest release, the two-disc Satan's Circus, takes everything the band worked so hard to achieve and throws it out the window. The music no longer champions that rocktronica vibe; instead, the deathly sound has been reduced to minimal lo-fi and Kraut-influenced mush. Some tracks — like “Zugaga,” “Kontroll” and “Sons of Rother” — sound like they were constructed for Playstation games while others (the downtempo “Heil Xanax,” “Anita Berber” and “Black Lead”) go absolutely nowhere. The only thing that saves this set is the excellent career-spanning live second disc, which comes as no surprise: Death in Vegas has always shined in its live element. — Justin Kleinfeld
BLOC PARTY
Silent Alarm (Vice)
Yes! Yes! Yes!
How exhilarating is it that, now, you get to enjoy not only post-punk legends in the flesh (thank you, Gang of Four) but also the fruits of their influence? Although the buzz surrounding Bloc Party is near-deafening, Silent Alarm validates all you've heard with enough layered, effected guitars to make you shed blissful tears and a torrent of spastic rhythms, unrelenting hi-hats and well-placed synths to have you dance yourself into hysteria. “Like Eating Glass” and “Banquet” explode with ecstatic urgency while “Blue Light” and “So Here We Are” retreat with tragic beauty, leaving you positively ravished. — Erin Hutton
BLACK MARKET MILITIA
Black Market Militia (Nature Sounds)
Positive? Yes. Soft? No.
Although corporate-sponsored thuggery dominates the airwaves, N.Y. rap vets Killah Priest and Tragedy Khadafi have joined forces to craft true message music. Wu-Tang affiliate Priest and Queensbridge O.G. Tragedy serve 14 tracks of cautionary hood tales and war cries for black empowerment. Informed without being preachy, they speak out against racism and social injustice while giving dap to Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Huey P. Newton — check out “Righteous Talk” and “Audobon Ballroom” (with Dead Prez). This is intelligent, streetwise hip-hop from two underappreciated pioneers. — Brolin Winning
BROADWAY PROJECT
The Vessel (Doubling Cube)
Dive into the stunning unconscious
With 2001's Compassion, Daniel Berridge unearthed the melancholy and malaise lurking in the innermost recesses of the human psyche; with The Vessel, he doesn't probe nearly as deep, making the despair, solitude and even hope that's present in his music altogether more striking and accessible. Indeed, this is an album of extremes, from the sweeping grandeur of “Darkling” to the heartbreaking loveliness of “Sufi” and piquant agitation of “Manifesto.” The breadth of emotion captured here is simply astonishing and utterly fascinating in its complexity. — Christine Hsieh
CARIBOU
The Milk of Human Kindness (Domino/Leaf)
Live from the electronic bedroom
As the creative spark behind Manitoba, Dan Snaith emerged as one of the more leftfield voices of Toronto's hip-hop underground — in fact, his loopadelic, sometimes folk-flavored collages only vaguely invoke the straight boom-bap. Caribou is Snaith's latest incarnation, and Milk is a wellspring of Eno-esque synthometry (“Yeti,” with Snaith on vocals), angular funk breaks (“Lord Leopard,” “Pelican Narrows”) and George Martin-style tape damage (“Drumheller”) presented with all the quiet dedication of a true beat freak. — Bill Murphy
CHAB
Dub, Edits and Whisky-Coke (Saw)
Making progress
Chab's remix work has brought much fanfare over the years, so there is quite a buzz on his debut record, Dub, Edits and Whisky-Coke. Fortunately, the material on this disc matches the hype. The production is on the money, and the seamless track mixing adds continuity. Several potentially huge progressive-house singles are on this record thanks in part to singer J.D. Davis. In fact, Chab's rubbery synths, wiry bass lines and storming drums sound perfect when paired with Davis' vocal. Standouts include “Closer to Me,” “Five” and “My Memory.” Now, how about that whisky-coke? — Justin Kleinfeld
DAEDELUS
Exquisite Corpse (Mush)
Adventure into a mad fantasy world
Daedelus has a knack for splicing IDM glitch with '60s pop ditties, cocktail-lounge bossa beats and rugged hip-hop in an utterly confident, casual manner, and he's definitely not beyond throwing the superfluous orchestral snippet on top just to see if the whole jumble will be knocked off balance. Strangely enough, Exquisite Corpse rarely is. This timeless, eccentric and chaotically beautiful collection of dense, shape-shifting tracks resplendent with oddball samples and effects sounds a bit like an old-fashioned 45 jukebox gone berserk and is all the better for it. — Christine Hsieh
GORILLAZ
Demon Days (Virgin)
Neurotic animations provide near-perfect sophomore disc
If you don't believe in Santa Claus, believing in Gorillaz — a band of freakish cartoon characters named 2D, Murdoc, Noodle and Russel — is tough. In reality, you'll hear the voices of Damon Albarn, De La Soul, Martina Topley-Bird, Dennis Hopper, MF Doom, Shaun Ryder (Happy Mondays) and more on the group's second album, Demon Days. Listeners are also made to believe that Noodle — who at last count was a “10-year-old Japanese kid with no past” — wrote most of Days herself at Gorillaz' Kong Studios (co-produced by Albarn and Danger Mouse).
But even skeptics who aren't the best make-believers can still give in to the fantasy of the wide-ranging Demon Days. Acoustic guitar, crunchy hip-hop beats and dance bloops get along harmoniously on “El Mañana.” Then, there's “Feel Good Inc,” with a '70s-disco, Chic-style bass line; dancefloor breakdowns; Albarn's vocals treated à la Beck's “Loser”; and body-moving rhymes from De La Soul. A Beach Boys-ish track (“Don't Get Lost in Heaven”) even pops up. It all gets under your skin; even the music and spoken word by Hopper on “Fire Coming out of a Monkey's Head” is catchy. You, too, can become a cartoon convert. — Kylee Swenson
DOVES
Some Cities (Capitol)
The best flight yet
The Doves' matching of pop-rock melodies and psychedelica makes for music that is mature, complex and less easy to grasp than Coldplay — a band that Doves is often compared to. Some Cities is rich and vibrant, painted with numerous instruments (check out the harmonica on “Walking on Fire”) and electronic textures. The album is typically fantastic, filled with so many gorgeous moments that you'll nearly shed a tear. The title track and “Black and White Town” jump out as the most commercial tunes while “Almost Forgotten,” “Snowden” and “The Storm” have the dreamiest parts to get lost in. — Justin Kleinfeld
ENGINEERS
Engineers (Echo)
Kool-Aid acid test from the UK
There are still shoes to be gazed at in London, and Engineers celebrates the noble tradition that Ride and Slowdive imparted on the dizzy masses some years back. On this debut, the foursome squeezes gospellike harmonies into every syrupy number, sounding specifically triumphant on “Home,” as if scoring a riverside baptism with overwhelming ELO drums and strings fit for any cheerful Sunday service. With programmed beats and delay pedals on “Let's Just See,” Engineers plumbs murky alien waters for any existing life forms. There is intelligent life down here, and it's quite stoned. — Dominic Umile
EVERYTHING BUT THE GIRL
Adapt or Die (Sire/Atlantic)
Ten years of treatments
Some of the smoothest electro-acoustic dance music of the '90s was made by Ben Watt and Tracey Thorn, source of some of the trippiest remixes, beginning in 1994 with Todd Terry's take on “Missing.” Terry pops up again on this set, along with DJ Jazzy Jeff (a stone-funky “Mirrorball”), King Britt (“Rollercoaster”), Kevin Yost (the tranced-out “Five Fathoms”) and others. It would have been interesting to hear a modern twist on some of EBTG's predance work — say, Idlewild's club-ready “Oxford Street” — but there's still plenty here for Watt and Thorn fans to get their fix. — Bill Murphy
THE FLAMING LIPS
Late Night Tales (Azuli)
Afterparty at Wayne's
The somewhat melancholy consistency of Wayne Coyne and company's latest installment of the Late Night Tales mix series is shattered to bits with the inclusion of their raucous cover of the White Stripes' “Seven Nation Army.” The fuzzy guitar remains, but the lyrics are replaced by a cocktail of Butthole Surfers-style lyrics and jabs at Bush's failing, clownish cabinet. The Lips' excellent selector skills ensure that everything from Aphex Twin's playful “Flim” to Nick Drake's majestic “River Man” gets a slot, but the inclusion of Radiohead's “Pyramid Song” is a real afterparty downer. — Dominic Umile
HEZEKIAH
Hurry Up & Wait… (Soul Spazm)
Romancing the headphones
There's gotta be something in the Philly water that mellows the soul and induces the production of jazzy, tranquil beats and laid-back rhymes. And whatever that something is, Hezekiah has consumed lots. On Hurry Up, Hezekiah delivers 13 tracks of solidly blunted hip-hop produced alone in his bedroom and with help (Illmind, M-Phazes). MCs such as Bahamadia (“Gypsy Slang”) are tastefully peppered throughout the album while songs like “Psycho Chick” bring to mind the synth-heavy boom-bap production of Jay Dee, with hints of the otherworldliness of Sa-Ra — just lovely. — Aaron Schultz
KLUTE
No One's Listening Anymore (Breakbeat Science)
Breaks both sad and sweet
With its slow pace and heartrending pull, Tom Withers' two-disc follow-up to Lie Cheat & Steal starts off in serious need of some Prozac. Songs like “Torrential Pain” draw listeners into a ghostly, depressing world, but subtle chord changes and charged bass lines eventually work medicinal magic, bringing the tone into a more hopeful space. Vocalists Moocha and Suont sustain both mind-sets — respectively, the nasal sleaze in “Acid Rain” versus the uplifting purr of “Empty Tank” — while Klute lets the frenetic pulse and sultry hum complete his melodic therapy session. — Genevieve Powers
KELLY OSBOURNE
Sleeping in the Nothing (Sanctuary)
Ozzy's daughter drops it like it's hot — '82-style
You know the score with Kelly Osbourne: It's all tantrums and tears on her family's MTV reality series. Her major label dropped her just as quickly as it manufactured her after the dismal chart showing of her Ashlee Simpson-style rock debut, Shut Up. Oh, and her father bites the heads off small, furry animals. But none of that matters, because Sleeping in the Nothing is such a fun and faithful homage to the golden age of synth pop, it's easy to wipe away Osbourne's past offenses.
Producer Linda Perry does a brilliant job building the album up on a foundation of dizzying video-game beats and chock-a-block arrangements that not only mask Osbourne's limited vocal abilities but actually re-create the sound of Missing Persons circa 1982 even better than Gwen Stefani and her billion-dollar budget. Tracks like “I Can't Wait” and “Secret Lover” sparkle while others like “Uh Oh” and “Redlight” conjure nostalgia for everyone from Berlin to Blondie. Apart from a few minor missteps — the lyrically anorexic “Suburbia” — Sleeping in the Nothing offers such a ridiculous new-wave rush that it's hard to believe Osbourne wasn't even born when Valley Girl came out. — Aidin Vaziri
MASHA QRELLA
Unsolved Remained (Morr)
Solo female solution
The fascination with Berlin continues thanks to the variety afforded by two factions: the abstract electronics of labels like Shitkatapult and the lovely dreamtronics coming out on Morr Music. Masha Qrella's second solo release straddles the two sounds with her own easy electro-acoustic indie pop and the warm beats and programming of friends such as Rechenzentrum (“Destination Vertical”). Qrella's guitar work provides the structure while her vocals carry a loose, airy vibe. Rich melodies complemented by subtle effects (“I Can't Tell,” “Everything Shows”) make for a pleasant listen. — Erin Hutton
JOE RANSOM
FabricLive 20 (Fabric)
Hip-hop that holds you hostage
The opening sample congratulates listeners on buying their first turntables; the closer warns you “just how it really is in the industry.” A streetwise DJ bred on Bristol's grimy beats, Joe Ransom invites the innocent and the jaded to this party but satisfies both by fusing the sundry sounds of London's hip-hop landscape. You can practically see the schoolgirls double-dutching to Rodney P's “The Nice Up,” but Ransom turns sharply down a darker alley with M.I.A.'s “Galang” and Dizzee Rascal's “Stand Up Tall,” arriving at the gritty sound that makes Fabric Fridays worth the ransom. — Genevieve Powers
ROOTS MANUVA
Awfully Deep (Big Dada)
Relevant UK hip-hop resurfaces
Three years since his last LP, South London MC Rodney Smith, aka Roots Manuva, brings this dark, textured collection that breathes with bass and menace. The title track's subterranean bass and sinister synth sound like a night of clubbing when the drugs begin to go wrong. “Too Cold” follows the mad-circus bounce favored by Eminem and D12. Elsewhere, Roots stitches together G-funk, dancehall and jungle with a thread of dub. It might sound chameleon, but it works. As Roots notes in “Colossal Insight”: “I got love for every one of them scenes / And them pigeonholes were never nuttin' to hold me.” — Dan Frio
SECOND SUN
Inside Out (System)
Electro sunshine from Montreal
On Second Sun's debut LP, producers Antoine and Adam commandeer surging progressive house that is rarely without psychedelic bursts and headphone-ready peaks. On “The Spell,” Antoine offers rather mundane, well-traveled lyrics, but the vocals take the sidecar as the afterburn of the track's scorching climax pretty much shreds everything else on the record. Sugarcoated '80s pop diva Tiffany takes a break from doing absolutely nothing to drop a Grease-like duet verse or two on closer “He Said She Said” over dancefloor synths, beats and enough reverb to make her feel right at home. — Dominic Umile
SILHOUETTE BROWN
Silhouette Brown (Ether)
Broken beat breaks boundaries
Broken beat has evolved massively during a short time, assimilating dozens of sounds into its fold. Yet only a rare few have been able to snap the chains that bind: Silhouette Brown is one of those exceptions. This project, conceived by R&B singer Deborah Jordan and superproducers Dego (4 Hero) and Kaidi Tatham (Bugz in the Attic), is a brilliant, deeply soulful work. Dego and Tatham manage to keep the production forward-thinking yet maintain a warm analog sensibility (as on “Monday's Coming”) while Jordan's voice soars on lush broken numbers (“Spread That”). — Aaron Schultz
VARIOUS ARTISTS
Run the Road (Vice)
Keeping it real — grimy
Like most outcast hybrid styles that operate without rules of engagement, UK grime is, at times, way cooler than the hip-hop and garage scenes that spawned it. Most will recognize Dizzee Rascal, grime's press prince of the moment, whose dirt-funky taunt “Give U More” is just one of many standouts on this righteous 16-track comp. The music here — rife with distorted drum machines, noisy synths and savvy lo-tech production moves — matches the rawness of the rhymes, which run from bloodthirsty (Terror Danjah's “Cock Back”) to downright filthy (Durrty Goodz' insane “Gimme Dat”). Brace yourself. — Bill Murphy
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