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Consumable Online Issue 040
==== ISSUE 40 ==== CONSUMABLE ======== [May 22, 1995]
Editor: Bob Gajarsky
Internet: gajarsky@pilot.njin.net
Sr. Contributors: Jeremy Ashcroft, Martin Bate, Al Crawford,
Dan Enright, Tim Kennedy, Reto Koradi,
David Landgren, Tim Mohr, Joe Silva, John Walker
Other Contributors: Scott Byron, Kelley Crowley, Nigel Harding, Tim
Hulsizer, Sean Eric McGill, Melissa Pellegrin,
P. Nina Ramos, Jamie Roberts, Linda Scott, Ali Sinclair,
Jon Steltenpohl, Jorge Velez, Courtney Muir Wallner,
Scott Williams
Technical Staff: Chris Candreva, Dave Pirmann, Damir Tiljak,
Jason Williams
Address all comments, subscriptions, etc. to gajarsky@pilot.njin.net
==================================================================
All articles in Consumable remain (C) copyright their author(s).
Permission for re-publication in any form other than within this
document must be obtained from the editor.
==================================================================
.------------.
| Contents |-.
`------------' |
`------------'
INTERVIEW: Dave Matthews - Dan Enright
REVIEW: Dave Matthews Band, _Under the Table Dreaming_ - Dan Enright
CONCERT REVIEW: Toad the Wet Sprocket, Roseland, New York City - Bob Gajarsky
CONCERT REVIEW: Mike Watt - P. Nina Ramos
REVIEW: Kate Jacobs, _(What About Regret)_ - Courtney Muir Wallner
REVIEW: Jill Sobule, _Jill Sobule_ - Reto Koradi
REVIEW : Quicksand _Manic Compression_ - Martin Bate
REVIEW: Cravin' Melon, _Where I Wanna Be_ - Bob Gajarsky
REVIEW: All, _Pummel_ - Scott Byron
REVIEW: Helmet, _Born Annoying_ - Martin Bate
REVIEW: King Crimson - _Thrak_ - Joe Silva
INTERVIEW: Cinderella - Kelley Crowley
REVIEW: Glenn Frey, _Solo Collection_ - Bob Gajarsky
NEWS: Morrissey Album pushed back, Oasis Winners
TOUR DATES: Cravin' Melon, Circle Jerks, Everything featuring Cameron DePalma,
Offspring/Lunachicks
Back Issues of Consuamble
---
INTERVIEW: Dave Matthews
- Dan Enright
Dave Matthews and his band appear to have sprung full blown on
the US music scene, but the reality is they're another 5 year
"overnight" success. If your only contact with the band is the
radio/video single, "What Would You Say?" that's currently making
the rounds, you aren't getting the whole picture. This
multi-talented group successfully mixes jazz, pop, folk, and rock &
roll to create a style that is distinctly their own - and much more
sophisticated than most of the music that graces the air waves.
I caught up with Dave on one of the few days off
from his 200 dates-a-year touring schedule. Here's his view of
being a musician/songwriter and his first major label release, _Under
The Table and Dreaming_.
Consumable: What's been the biggest difference between playing for
yourself and being a professional musician?
Dave Matthews: With the grace of success comes certain obligations. You
have to perform, so there's confines on it that can become frustrating. But
that's why we have time off. You lose the power to write, which is my
real passion. There's not too much inspiration for me to write on the
road. The motel rooms and highways haven't got a terrific appeal - but
it's still fun. The two hours we spend on stage every day is the thing
that keeps it all worthwhile. If it wasn't for that, I certainly wouldn't
be traveling around the country.
C: It's good you've kept that joy of performing.
DM: If we were to play the music exactly the same way and do the same
thing every night - the same set - then it could get dull. But we try to
keep it fresh because we feel, if we're not having a good time with the
music then people aren't going to have a good time. Not really. They
might come and say, "Well, that was cool... They were good..." but to
really appeal to people, whether it's all of the audience or five people
that are really wanting to get thrilled, we can really reach those people
only if we're really havin' a good time.
C: That connection of the performer with the audience - the
pocket - is the real magic of music.
DM: Absolutely. It happens in different ways. Sometimes it's
because of us and sometimes it's regardless of us. Some nights it's like,
"Ok, we've gotta' go out, we gotta' play now..." It's unusual, but if
your spirit's down or you're low, the next two hours seem like a real big
thing. But there's a thousand or five thousand people that have come to
see us and now we have to reach to the deepest quarter in your body, the
furthest spot in your soul and find the strength to put on the show
they'll feel was more than worth their coming out. That happens some nights,
then I think there's that pocket that is more the road, from working and
working. We reach that pocket sometimes. But I know the pocket you're
talking about, which is almost like being in heaven, when you're not
even there. That has happened occasionally, too.
C: How does the songwriting and arranging work?
DM: On the albums, the way they've been recorded or the songs we've
chosen - up to this point I've brought the songs to the band - here's the
song, here's the melody, and here's the music - now let's arrange it. What
voices do we want, where do we want to put them? Considering every single
person a voice, how do we want to treat it? So that becomes a discussion
we all have.
Now what's happening is there's songs I'm working on, but there's
also songs coming out of soundchecks - 'cause we're on the road all the
time. We're playing six, seven days a week, so the only time we get to be
creative is during soundchecks, if it's long enough. So, what I think is,
the next album will reflect more whole-band arrangements and compositions
and I'll probably just stay as the sole lyricist. At the beginning it was
all songs I've written, then it's sort of been both, and now it's going to
lean toward the band doing a lot of it as well.
C: Is that due to the band being together so long?
DM: Yeah, everyone's roles are very important. These are the same
five people that were together the first day we played in the basement.
There's no change. It's not me and a band. The name was deceiving more
because of the lack of a name than it is a name.
C: Well, you're the front man.
DM: It's not really how the band works. People who have seen us
live see it's definitely a five piece band and it comes across that way.
There's no dancing around me, we're all dancing around the same thing. I
think a lot of people that come to see us realize, "Whoa! It's not
focused on him."
The way I see it is, if one of us goes, we have to carefully think
about whether or not all of us should go. Every member of the band -
whatever it appears to people outside, inside all five of us are equal and
have as much right to shout and say, "No! That's wrong..." or "That's
right..." or "Change that..." or "That's screwed up... " or "I have
something to say now, so I'm going to say it..." Which I think is good.
There's a lot more volatility, but that's healthy.
C: How do the lyrics develop?
DM: My approach to lyrics is, I don't want to be trite - although on
occasion triteness is good - but I don't want to be too preachy. That's a
little rule I made for myself. I do feel very strongly about things that
unify us, fears that unify and separate us, and love people have...
everyone likes sugar.
I was very lucky in my upbringing to be exposed to really special
people and my family had a lot of generous-spirited ideas. I think that
it's important of me to try and get that in my lyrics: a sympathy and
generosity toward anyone listening, with occasional weird stories or
frightening things that people in general might be able to understand.
Whether or not they're going to be able to understand exactly what I'm
talking about - often it's impossible 'cause I'm not talkin' about
exactly anything [chuckle] - but to get a feeling.
I'm just trying to not write another "Baby I Love You/Baby Don't
Leave Me/Baby You Drove Me Down/Baby I'm Mad At You" or another "I'm Gonna
Rock You/I'm Gonna Rock You Down..." just rock & roll. I know there's a
lot of lyricists out there that don't. They're people I look at and I
think that's admirable. I don't know where my lyrics come from. They're
still my most feared part of music because I'm just not confident about
them.
C: You have to trust they'll come when ya need em.
DM: Yeah. I'm afraid of words because they can be misunderstood. In
some of the lyrics I'll have changes and other times, exactly what's there
is what I sang. Take the song "Pay For What You Get". That one fell out
like brick work. "Typical Situation" took more time. That one seemed more
difficult. "Dancin' Nancies" wasn't too long, but that also had a lot
more lyrics to it than what's on the song. Usually, those edits happened
before we got to the studio.
C: I thought "What Would You Say" seemed out of place with the
rest of the album. Did you include it so RCA would have a single to release?
Dave : We didn't do that one with anything in mind. It was a song that
[producer] Steve Lillywhite liked, so we did that. I think one of the
things that makes it stand out is it's got different instruments on it.
The way we approached that song when we were recording it, was very
humorously. It's definitely the pop song on the album, which made me
reluctant to release it as a single. So we didn't release a single, but
they did release that to radio first, so it came across as a single.
C: And as a video, right?
DM: Yeah. We made that after the album was recorded. It had been
chosen as the single for radio, so we just went ahead and made it.
C: It doesn't really capture the spirit of the album though...
DM: That's why I didn't want to release it. We thought people could
hear that and think, "Oh! Well, that's a wacky song." and then assume
the rest of the album would be less wacky. It's kind of a trite and joking
and mocking of itself, because it's nonsensical. Which is what's
happening in the video. What we were kind of shooting at was the emphasis
being on the emptiness, with lots of music. I'd love to do that
experiment - if you took a really wacked out song and played it over and
over again on the radio, it would sail. I always wanted to do that with a
song like "Satellite".
Check out the Dave Matthews band - they're touring all over the world,
and _Under The Table and Dreaming_ is receiving airplay everywhere.
---
REVIEW: Dave Matthews Band, _Under the Table Dreaming_ (RCA)
- Dan Enright
Dave Matthews' second album - the first on major, RCA - is a
successful melding of folk, jazz, pop, and rock genres into one of the most
sophisticated releases to sit on my CD player in a long time. This band
displays the arranging and performing skills that only hundreds of shows and
countless hours of cooperative work can produce.
Assisted by veteran producer Steve Lillywhite, the quintet (Carter
Beauford - drums/percussion/vocals, Stefan Lessard - bass, David Matthews -
acoustic guitar, Leroi Moore - alto/soprano/tenor sax/flute/vocals, and Boyd
Tinsley - acoustic violin/vocals) grooves and flows through this collection
of enigmatic lyrics and infectious melodies. The album has a sound and feel
I thought had been lost with '70s acts Mark Almond and Jesse Collins, except
for the pop/radio tune "What Would You Say." This song seems out of place,
and is not a reliable indicator of the albums' depth.
It's the interplay between Moore's sax and Tinsley's violin that is
the highlight of these songs. The two compliment each other in cut after cut
as they trade lead lines that subtly blend into duets, then slowly separate.
All the while, the songs are driven by Carter's percussive sensibility.
When you layer Dave's lyrics on these intricate arrangements, you
have an album that is greater than its parts. Insights, like the lament of
"Typical Situation", question "Why are you different/Why are you that way/If
you don't step in line/We'll lock you away/It's a typical situation/In these
typical times/We can't do a thing about it", or the confusion of "Dancing
Nancies", "Requesting some enlightenment/Could I have been anyone other than
me?"
Then there's the playful replies to the questions posed by "What
Would You Say", "Don't drop the Big One.../If you were a monkey on a string?/
Don't cut my lifeline.../If you were a puppy on a string/Don't bite the
mailman... or these lines from "Warehouse", Hey reckless mind/Don't throw
away your playful beginnings/You and I will fumble around in the touches/And
be sure to/Leave the lights on/So we can see the black cat changing colors."
I wonder what he meant by that.
Excellent songwriting and playing by these five gentlemen have
combined to produce an outstanding album. I recommend it.
---
CONCERT REVIEW: Toad the Wet Sprocket, Roseland, New York City
May 5, 1995
- Bob Gajarsky
Toad the Wet Sprocket, the band named after a Monty Python
skit, has been touring long and hard for their most recent release, 1994's
_Dulcinea_. On this stop of the tour, Toad's caravan rolled into New
York City's Roseland for a 90 minute set which kept the sold out crowd
screaming for more.
If, for some reason, your ear hasn't been fortunate to catch Toad on
the radio, think of Dave Matthews Band, From Good Homes, or Hootie and the
Blowfish. If you know what Toad is about, the live show brought out
all the enthusiasm which yearns to come through on their record.
The hit "All I Want", from _Fear_, was what brought some fans out
onto the floor. It's hard to imagine the song, which almost traces a Thompson
Twins falsetto in the middle, being a dance tune, but there were people
swishing and moving to the beat. Unfortunately, it was obvious that to some
people, this song was all that they knew of Toad. The bandwagonners retreated
back to the shadows after "All I Want", leaving the rest of the Roseland floor
to the intelligent music lovers.
In fact, the highlight of the evening was when Hootie, without the
Blowfish, joined Toad onstage to take lead vocals on the _Dulcinea_ track,
"Crowing". It's said that the songwriting abilities of an artist show only
when someone else sings your song - in this case, Toad earn top marks. To say
that Hootie's performance of "Crowing" was chilling is an understatement;
his sincerity and passion perfectly complemented the band and drew
oohs and ahhs from the entire audience.
After 18 songs (and two encores), primarily from _Fear_ and _Dulcinea_
capped off by "I Will Not Take These Things For Granted", Toad left the stage.
And, outside of Roseland, several thousand fans were left yearning for
more - but feeling incredibly satisfied at the standout performance they
witnessed.
---
CONCERT REVIEW: Mike Watt
- P. Nina Ramos
Without so much as a "Hello we are...", Mike Watt and
friends went into the first song of their set on their current tour. They
started the set with "Big Train", the first track of their CD.
The performance was scattered all over the stage, making it hard to
focus on one thing. Mike Watt was set awkwardly in the middle of the stage.
To either side of Watt were Eddie Vedder (Pearl Jam) and Dave Grohl
(Nirvana). At the beginning of the show, the group seemed uneasy about
moving around. However, once Watt got a feeling for the space, he began to
whip around the stage.
The band played very smoothly as a whole. They really seemed to be
in touch with both what was going on with the other performances as well as
their own. It was suprising that the band was thrown together in four months;
bands that play for ten years don't play this well. Each peformer's
personality perfectly complemented the other performers. Eddie Vedder
maintained his posture and stood fast during his vocal performance of
"Against the 70's". Dave Groll played both guitar and drums with the drumming
whipping the crowd in to a frenzy.
After playing a few songs alone, the group was joined by David Pirner
(Soul Asylum) to perform his piece that appears on the CD. Pat Smear (Germs),
looking barefoot and beautiful, had been on and off the stage lending a hand
with the backing vocals. During Mustane's performance, Smear picked up
Groll's guitar and started to play along without missing a beat. Not long
after, he started to sing his part in "Forever-one Reporter's Opinion", his
track on the CD. Watt played furiously behind him, while Smear stroked the
mike as if it were an old lover.
Despite popular opinion, Watt did play fIREHOSE songs. "Making the
Freeway," and "Walking the Cow" were part of the set. The songs seemed to
be a bit heavy for the Pop 'n' Grunge Crowd. But to the true fans, it was
icing on the cake.
The performance ran for a while and then seemed to stop dead. They
ran backstage to get ready for the encore and when they reemerged, the crowd
had wound down a lot. They played the encore and left.
After the performance, a little crowd gathered backstage. Soon after,
I got the opportunity to approach Mike Watt. I asked him if his solo career
marked the end of fIREHOSE which he denied: "No no...Of course not."
Outside, a crowd waited to catch a glimpse of their favorite Pop stars (Like
Pop music "Superstars" Eddie Vedder, Dave Mustane, and Dave Groll) But
inside, it was just like a party. I got to see a side of the performers
that fans often ignore, these guys are just people. Dave Mustane looked like
someone I would hang out with at a party, if it weren't for all that money -
and Eddie Vedder is not very impressive in person. All in all though, A good
time was had by all.
And, in cyberspace...to check out Mike Watt on the web - with
a different take on things - set your World Wide Web browser to
http://www.music.sony.com/Music/ArtistInfo/Watt/index.html
---
REVIEW: Kate Jacobs, _(What About Regret)_ (Bar/None)
- Courtney Muir Wallner
Kate Jacobs' second album (What About Regret) is a true find, with a
unique blend of folk, country and pop musical styles. Jacobs, with her small,
wavering voice, delivers a sound which is pure and endearing, giving the
listener much to enjoy. The enchanting melodies are really a collection of
short stories, each tempting the listener to play her ballads over and over,
in search for the subtle underlying meanings. The intricate combination of
instruments, played by Dave Schramm, James Macmillan, Charlie Shaw, and
Jacobs herself, include acoustic and electric guitars, dobro, lap steel,
organ, piano, harmonica, tambourine, accordion, autoharp, washboard and
triangle. Each sound is carefully layered one upon the other, allowing the
music to weave effortlessly around Jacobs' clean, wholesome lyrics, revealing
a quiet beauty one would expect to find on the first sunny, crisp spring day.
The entire album sounds as fresh and honest as a grass-roots
demonstration or a down-home picnic. Jacobs' voice does take a moment to get
used to, but the adjustment is slight and only adds to the uplifting nature
of the record. The variety of material covered in her writing is incredible,
ranging from "Sister," a song about a little girl with six brothers
experiencing early on the dangers of always wanting what you cannot have, to
"3 years in Nebraska" about a married couple growing weed (and in turn
losing what you treasure most by allowing yourself the freedom to slip into
something so easy, so comfortable). Jacobs speaks of spiritual growth, death,
and mourning in "George Says" : "...George reads what I won't read, he sees
what I won't see, but sometimes later in the night, sometimes later in the
week, when I wake up breathless with that loss that chases sleep I try hard
to see this world that our friend George has drawn for me." The eloquence
with which she writes is magnificent.
Kate Jacobs is a talented author and musician and her album _(What
About Regret)_ is a worthwhile investment for those who cherish the
simplicity of quality music.
---
REVIEW: Jill Sobule, _Jill Sobule_ (Atlantic)
- Reto Koradi
Some girls have all the luck. While some female singer/songwriters,
like Tori Amos, have received their well-deserved attention, some equally
talented ones have fallen short of commercial success. Jill Sobule is just
one example; her wonderful debut album _Things Here Are Different_,
produced by Todd Rundgren, was frequently found in cut-out bins. Now, 5
years later, Atlantic gives her a second chance, and we can only hope that
it will sell well enough to not be the last one.
While _THAD_ was a very intimate and mostly sad album, this one is
more diverse. Jill says, "There's still angst and manic depression in the
songs, but at least they have a sense of humor, and hope. I had a lot of
life experiences and disappointments between records; at this point, I'm
kind of hopefully jaded." Not that she completely forgot about her old
qualities. Some songs, like "Houdini's Box" or "Now That I Don't Have You",
are still very emotional, with sparse instrumentation.
Another group of tracks, like "Margaret" or "The Couple On The
Street", are also quite mellow, but the piano and Jill's vocals give them
a jazz kind of feel, reminiscent of Nina Simone. "Train" and "The Jig Is Up",
two of the highlight tracks, have a really groovy chorus, with a strong
bass line in "Train".
There are also a few simple, but beautiful tracks with a strong
folk influence, most clearly in "Resistance Song" and "Vrbana Bridge",
somewhat less pronounced in the great "I Kissed A Girl".
Last but not least there are two tracks, the opening "Good Person
Inside" and "Karen By Night" that would come less surprisingly from some
of the hype alternative female rock bands like Veruca Salt. They're not
noisy, but they have drive, and even some (slightly) distorted guitars.
The lyrics mostly tell stories, about life, people, relations. No
unusual topics, but Jill has a knack of describing feelings and creating
pictures by words, with a good sense of humor. "Maybe I should jump,
jump off the Brooklyn Bridge, but I don't live in Brooklyn, and I don't
know how to swim".
Despite the rather different styles featured on the album, it
doesn't fall apart at all. The songs are held together by Jill's genuine
talent as a songwriter and guitar player, but most of all by her beautiful,
clear voice. People that like female singer/songwriters, or even just good
music in general, should give _Jill Sobule_ a chance.
---
REVIEW : Quicksand _Manic Compression_ (Island)
- Martin Bate
Quicksand's debut, _Slip_, was one of *the* debuts of 1993. They
combined Fugazi's upbeat hardcore angst with Helmet's occasional yearning
drawl (think "Unsung") alomg with the ferocity and dynamics of both bands
to sound simultaneously extremely sad and extremely pissed off.
Their second album, _Manic Compression_, doesn't change their
style too drastically. There's a little more of a traditional punk edge
and an increased knack for a big pop chorus, both of which could be
construed as an Offspring influence if it weren't for the fact that
Quicksand's hardcore credentials stretch back at least as far as Epitaph's
biggest band.
The opener, "Backward", is a melodious but off-kilter clenched fist
clocking in well under two minutes before "Delusional" drops into gear on
a chugging riff and Walter Schrieffel's mocking "You want to tell me so
bad/Who is on your guest list". This then explodes into a soaring sneer
of a chorus, "Save it for one of your/other friends/or your many fans".
Wonder who he's talking about.
The rest of the first side tears past - 6 songs in 15 minutes -
in similiar cool fashion. In particular, "Divorce" is a speedy two minutes
of screwed up and knuckled down anger and "Simpleton" uses an acoustic
guitar on the verses that shouldn't work as well as it does, before the
smeared sledgehammer riff on the chorus.
All this is is even more commendable considering the songs manage
to shine through a fairly awful production. For a major-label album, the
sound is surprisingly cheap and one-dimensional with the drums in
particular sounding weak - the snare drum sounds like someone hitting a
biscuit tin. It is obviously the sound they wanted but I can't work out
why, as the songs lose some of their potential power.
Things go even more awry on the second side. "Landmine Spring"
begins the side as a potential hit - a mid-paced, MTV-friendly,
'alternative' rocker, behind which lurks some bitterly disappointed,
unfriendly lyrics like "Did not expect this shit at all/To go through
this again". This is quickly followed by the tumbling hate-fuelled riff
of "Blister" but then the album just seems to lose its momentum. There's
a succession of songs which seem to have all the right elements in place
but have lost some of the guts and passion from inside. The clincher is
the awful closer, "It Would Be Cooler If You Did" - a six and a half
minute dirge which sounds like a Candlebox ballad, albeit one played by
Fugazi.
So, the first two-thirds of _Manic Compression_ is an excellent
album despite a slightly dodgy sound and the last third is listenable if
a little uninspiring and disappointing. Lets just put things down to it
being the 'difficult second album' and get our asses along to the live
shows.
---
REVIEW: Cravin' Melon, _Where I Wanna Be_ (Seedless)
- Bob Gajarsky
South Carolina's Cravin' Melon is currently an unknown band
striking to make it big in the national arena, but their first full
length release, _Where I Wanna Be_, aims to target the four piece
electrified-acoustic band for a national spotlight.
An initial listen to the disc prompts immediate comparisons to
harmonizers Toad the Wet Sprocket and Hootie and the Blowfish; the latter
comparison is particularly apt, as producer Dick Hodgin worked with
Hootie's band before the Blowfish exploded on the national scene. Further
listens reveal similarities to bands such as From Good Homes, 38 Special
and Gin Blossoms. The feel-good sound is what links all these groups and
Cravin' Melon deliver this in spades.
Particular standouts include the pseudo-title track, "Sweet Tea",
which sings the praises of the drink only truly available in the South and
"Running", which is the kind of song that can be stretched out at concerts
with an entire audience singing and clapping along.
Hodgin's golden ear has picked up another powerful southern
band which is on the road to national success. Check out why on _Where
I Wanna Be_.
Interested fans can purchase the CD for $14 ppd. from Cravin' Melon
at 101 North St., Taylors SC 29687. The band can be contacted directly
via e-mail at melonheads@aol.com
---
REVIEW: All _Pummel_ (Interscope)
- Scott Byron
The elevation of California's brand of punk-pop to
unexpected commercial heights in the wakes of Green Day and
Offspring has, understandably, led major labels to try and
cash in. Despite the inevitable cries of "sell-out" from
indie-punk purists, how can one blame a band that's slugged
it out for more than fifteen years (and could legitimately be
credited with *inventing* the pop-punk form) from wanting to
grab for the brass ring?
One can't. (Shouldn't.) Especially since _Pummel_
rocks as hard and pops as loud as any of the commercial
standard-bearers of the genre.
A little history. Before some of you were born (1978)
the first of many incarnations of the Descendents released
their first 7". With various line-ups and labels, the band
released a handful of vinyl (yes!) recordings that were as fun
as they were raucous. When vocalist Milo quit for good, the
the remaining three (the only constancy from the very beginning
being drummer Bill Stevenson) formed All, who have now had
three different vocalists (currently Chad Price).
So here we are with _Pummel_, and the times have
finally caught up with All. They have a well deserved place in
the mid-'90s pop marketplace, and they're just pounding it out
rough and ready, same as it ever was. The secret to this
band's success has always been and forever will be great
songwriting, and this album is chock full of amazing tunes.
Everyone in the band writes well, and just about anything on
this album will equal the pop smarts of Green Day. Skeptics
are pointed toward the first single, "Million Bucks"
("Everybody says they want a million bucks/But I'd rather have
a million days with you") as well as "Gettin' There" ("It takes
a lot to piss me off/But you're gettin' there") and "Not Easy"
("I'll lay my head down on my pillow and cry myself to sleep/
It's not easy being me").
Instantly hummable, lyrically wry, smart and biting,
this album is a joy from start to finish. Crank it up.
---
REVIEW: Helmet, _Born Annoying_ (Amphetamine Reptile, Europe)
- Martin Bate
Those nice folks at Amphetamine Reptile have gone and gathered
together all Helmet's hard-to-get tracks from the various limited 7"s
the band put out with the label between 1989 and 1993, and put them on this
one handy record. Thus, we're all saved a lot of searching and a lot of
money and the anally retentive elitist record collectors get slightly
pissed off. This of course is a good thing, as contrary to some opinions,
music is made to be heard by as many people as possible - especially when
it is as good as this.
The first side is the 1989 "Born Annoying" single with two
unreleased tracks from the same session. The sound is rougher and less
rigid than the Helmet most of us are familiar with now with everything
covered in a sheen of guitar noise. The sound is sort of art-punk, a
hybrid of Sonic Youth and Big Black. "Born Annoying" itself features
a bout of extended guitar abuse redolent of Thurston Moore and family
while "Rumble" is a frantic chase instrumental built on a, uh, rumbling
bass riff; "Shirley MacLaine" is literally one half warped drawl over
disturbed rock guitar and one half speedy pop hardcore; and "Geisha to Go"
is PiL meets Killing Joke and possibly the only song not immediately
recognisible as Helmet. The rest are unmistakeably Helmet songs, and good
ones at that, albeit without the distinctive approach which has come to
be their trademark.
By 1991's "Taken", though, the all-important space between riffs has
started to appear and the guitars themselves have started to sound more
clipped and urgent. "Your Head" from the same year is prime Helmet, a
sung-drawl over minor chords played with hardcore intensity. By "Oven"
and the instrumental "No Nicky No" the final pieces of the sound are
complete as the incredible, skewed sense of timing comes firmly into
focus.
From 1993 there's a straight cover of Killing Joke's "Primitive"
and a re-recorded version of "Born Annoying" which is nothing short of
incredible. The original's noise atmosphere is replaced with the 1993-model
Helmet's machine-gun precision and impossible-to-replicate timing and
the pace is tweaked and the vocals intensified to complete the transition.
At 10 tracks, two of which are "Born Annoying" it's not exactly
prime value for money. I could say it's 'for collectors only' but there's
*way* too much good stuff on here for even the casual Helmet fan to pass
by. So don't.
---
REVIEW: King Crimson - _Thrak_ (Virgin)
- Joe Silva
The Seattle loose fit set don't need much, if any, of a caffeine
jolt to pay in-concert homage to their current heroes (i.e. - the resurrected
Neil Young). Good java is better spent on bands that can momentarily forego
their ability to "rock hard" and create some true musical tension. _Thrak_
comes way closer to emulating the same "so wired you could chew furniture"
buzz you get from a sound dose of Colombian Supremo, than the latest young
and slack pack of Crazy Horse clones. You can blur the genesis of 70's art
rock between enough bigger bands (Yes, Genesis) to gloss over Robert Fripp's
contribution, but the there'd be a significant loss in that sub-genre's
substance. Once Fripp successfully co-opted drummer Bill Bruford from Yes,
thus adding some serious rhythmic muscle to Crimson, the result was never
anything less than provocative. But it was the 80's configuration, adding
bassist Tony Levin (Peter Gabriel, John Lennon, Lou Reed) and string wizard
Adrian Belew (Talking Heads, Laurie Anderson, Bowie, Zappa, etc.), that
gets the nod for being able to wed Fripp's skewed sonics to Belew's melody
passion. As a unit, the two produced material about everything from Kerouac
to Elephants, to the proper way to prepare a lark's tongue (should you have
one at your disposal). On the new LP, the standard tunings are once more
virtually abandoned, Bruford's rhythms are syncopated and mangled, and the
worries they had about whether their ideas would be substantial enough to
warrant a reunion have evaporated. With enough inherent skill to be fussy,
bizarre, or straight up melodic, Crimson seem to be in peak form - scaling
back the excess when necessary, and injecting enough vim into the contents to
hold your interest firm. "Dinosaur" (the first single) wraps one of Levin's
most stalwart and limber basslines around some pretty pop verses and
Belew's howling angst-ridden chorus. Both "Walking On Air" and "One Time"
show that Belew still maintains his facility for crooning an achingly sweet
ballad. After his somewhat dicey collaborations with former Japan vocalist
David Sylvian, Fripp once again liberally flexes of his avant-twang to
blistering success. Solo projects, and one-off teamups taken into account,
this is the forum where his six string stature is virtually uneclipsable.
Having no clue as to the nature of the title, _Thrak_ plays as a suitable
label. Electric, muscular, blissful and spatially correct. Not to be missed in
performance mode. "Experience" just wouldn't be close to the appropriate term.
---
INTERVIEW: Cinderella
- Kelley Crowley
The cliche of overcoming adversity has been used as a marketing
tool for as long as record industry people have called music "product." The
struggling artist who has a dramatic story to tell usually doesn't sell a lot
of CDs. But, if suffering for your work could be measured in records sold,
Cinderella's new release is multi platinum.
The Philadelphia band, who rose to fame at the the end of the glam
years, has struggled four years to release _Still Climbing_. The ooze of
blues on this record only tells part of the long story. With names like Kenny
Arnoff, Jay Davison and Andy Johns involved how hard could it have been to
make this recording? Cinderella's lead singer Tom Keifer talked about the
tough times and how long it took from his hometown of Philadelphia.
"When we came off the tour from _Heartbreak Station_ album, I was
suffering from unexplained vocal problems. No doctor could find a reason for
what was happening to my voice. It just went away. I finally met someone who
helped me. I had surgery and had years of vocal therapy and vocal exercises.
That was our first set back; it only lasted two or three years".
When Keifer's voice returned, the group made plans to begin
recording the album. A new set of problems began as the group tried to
straighten out their drummer problem.
"We got into making the record and we were having problems with the
drummer whom we started working with after Fred left. We started the record
and we couldn't get any tracks cut. Every time we cut a track it wouldn't be
right was it the drummer or the producer. Finally we said, get rid of Andy."
Cinderella had problems with the world famous producer Andy Johns.
Although he had produced the two previous Cinderella records, the group was
unhappy with his work.
"It just didn't work out with Andy this time. He has some substance
abuse problems. It really messed things up. We worked with three different
drummers with Andy and we couldn't find a groove anywhere. We knew we had a
bigger problem".
The group brought in producers Duane Baron and John Purdell to pick
up the pieces. "Magically we started finding some grooves. Once John and
Duane took over the project it really started to come together. Just as
everything was working, smoothing Duane's wife goes into premature labor. He
has to fly out to L.A. because she's bedridden. We eventually went out there
as well and we recorded some stuff there."
The band came back to Philadelphia to finish the record. When the
record was finally finished, it was time to start "mixing hell" as Keifer
put it.
"We couldn't find anyone to mix the record to our satisfaction. They
mixed it about four times. We eventually ended up having John and Duane come
back. It came out the way we wanted it to. Despite all the time it was all
worth it in the end."
During the four years it took to make _Still Climbing_ Keifer received
another blow when he learned that doctors diagnosed his mother with cancer.
The first single off the record is his song to his mother "Hard To Find The
Words."
"I wrote that after I found out she was sick," says Keifer. "It's my
way of saying thanks for all she's done for me throughout my life."
Since one release took so many years to record, was Keifer worried
about their record company Mercury dropping them?
"They were great. The understood everything that was going on blow
by blow and they were cool. Besides, they know that it's more important to
make a good album. We can't make a good album if I can't sing, we don't have
the right drummer or the right producer. When it started getting me down I
would say "we are doing what we have to do to make this record right."
---
REVIEW: Glenn Frey, _Solo Collection_ (MCA)
- Bob Gajarsky
The second most successful Eagle, in terms of his solo career,
has been Glenn Frey. Although falling far behind the success of bandmate
Don Henley, Frey has managed to blip on and off the pop charts, solo, for the
better part of a decade. This time has been chronicled on the
greatest hits collection for Frey, _Solo Collection_.
The television show Miami Vice helped propel two of Frey's most
popular tracks, "You Belong to the City" and "Smuggler's Blues", to #13
and #2 placings on the Billboard charts in 1985, and earned the rock
star the ability to appear in episodes of the flamingo cop show. The Beverly
Hills Cop song "The Heat Is On", Frey's other solo smash, also appears in the
compilation.
However, these tracks are atypical of the collection of Glenn
Frey's works. Much more typical is 1982's "The One You Love" - which
fits in right at home on most adult contemporary stations. Like Henley,
Frey has mellowed significantly with age, and the spunk, energy and
rebellion shown in the 1970's died nearly twenty years ago, with signs
of a resurrection in the mid 1980's.
One would assume that with only twelve songs entering the pop
charts, each top 100 single would be represented here. Curiously enough,
that is not true; his first solo single "I Found Someone" and the
title track to 1984's _The Allnighter_ are two of the four singles
which appeared in the Billboard charts, but not on _Solo Collection_.
For those who are still humming Eagles tracks such as "I Can't
Tell You Why" and "Best of My Love", the Glenn Frey _Solo Collection_
will fit right in. But, for those whose appeal from the Eagles is on their
epic "Hotel California" or their rockin' "Life in the Fast Lane", the
Frey collection should be better passed up.
Track listing: This Way To Happiness, Who'd Been Sleeping In My Bed, Common
Ground, Call On Me, The One You Love, Sexy Girl, Smuggler's Blues, The Heat
Is On, You Belong To The City, True Love, Soul Searchin', Part of Me
Part of You, I've Got Mine, River of Dreams, Rising Sun, Brave New World
---
NEWS: The upcoming Morrissey album has had its release date pushed
back to August 1.
Congratulations to the winners of the Oasis contest (Consumable
Online, Issue 38). These winners are: Joann Ball, Natasha Garcia,
Jennifer Garvin, Patrick Tibbetts and Holly Wiseman.
---
TOUR DATES
Cravin' Melon
May 26 Atlanta, GA Dark Horse Tavern
May 27 Murrells Inlet, SC Sandpipers
May 28 Isle Of Palms, SC Windjammer
May 31 Statesboro, GA Blind Willie's
Circle Jerks
May 23 Los Angeles, CA Dragonfly
May 24 Los Angeles, CA Viper Room
Everything featuring Cameron DePalma
May 27 Hollywood, CA Roxbury
Offspring/Lunachicks
May 22 Tulsa, OK Cain's Ballroom
May 23 Springfield, MO Shrine's Mosque
May 24 Springfield, IL State Fair Coliseum
May 27 Tampa, FL Expo Hall
May 28 Miami, FL AT&T Bayfront Auditorium
May 30 Hampton, VA Hampton U. Convention Center
June 2 Asbury Park, NJ Stone Pony
June 4 Montreal, QC Centre Sportif
June 5 Toronto, ON Barsity Arena
June 6 Buffalo, NY Blind Melon's Outdoor Patio
June 8 Indianapolis, IN Expo Hall, Indiana State Fair
---
To get back issues of Consumable, check out:
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Engleski Jezik/Music/Consumable or
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(URL) gopher://diana.zems.etf.hr:70/11/eng/Music/Consumable
http://www.westnet.com/consumable/Consumable.html
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Address any written correspondence to Bob Gajarsky, Consumable Online,
409 Washington St. #294, Hoboken, New Jersey 07030
===
