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Consumable Online Issue 183
== ISSUE 183 ==== CONSUMABLE ONLINE ======== [July 29, 1999]
Editor: Bob Gajarsky
E-mail: editor@consumableonline.com
Managing Editor: Lang Whitaker
Sr. Correspondents: Daniel Aloi, Joann Ball, Bill Holmes, Tim
Kennedy, Tim Mohr, Al Muzer, Joe Silva
Correspondents: Michelle Aguilar, Christina Apeles, Niles J.
Baranowski, Mike Bederka, Tracey Bleile, Jason
Cahill, Matthew Carlin, Patrick Carmosino, John
Davidson, Andrew Duncan, Krisjanis Gale,
Chris Hill, Eric Hsu, Tim Hulsizer, Franklin
Johnson, Steve Kandell, Reto Koradi, Robin
Lapid, Linda Scott, Don Share, Scott Slonaker,
Kerwin So, Chelsea Spear, Jon Steltenpohl, Michael
Van Gorden, Simon West
Technical Staff: Chris Candreva, David Landgren, Dave Pirmann
Also Contributing: Rey Roldan
Address all comments to staff@consumableonline.com ; subscription
information is given at the end of this issue.
==================================================================
All articles in Consumable remain (C) copyright their author(s).
Permission for re-publication in any form must be obtained from the
editor.
==================================================================
.------------.
| Contents |
`------------'
INTERVIEW: Robyn Hitchcock - Rey Roldan
REVIEW: Texas, _The Hush_ - Jon Steltenpohl
REVIEW: The Flaming Lips, _The Soft Bulletin_ - Andrew Duncan
REVIEW: Weird Al Yankovic, _Running With Scissors_ - Bob Gajarsky
INTERVIEW: Danny Heifetz from Mr. Bungle - Matthew Carlin
REVIEW: Glen Scott, _Without Vertigo_ - Jon Steltenpohl
REVIEW: Scanner, _Lauwarm Instrumentals_ - Andrew Duncan
REVIEW: The Donnas, _Get Skintight_ - Jason Cahill
REVIEW: Venice, _Spin Art_ - Jon Steltenpohl
CONCERT REVIEW: Southern Culture on the Skids - Al Muzer
REVIEW: The Crabs, _Sea and Sand_ / Old Time Relijun, _Uterus and
Fire_ - Andrew Duncan
NEWS: Asbury Music Awards, Foo Fighters
TOUR DATES: Atari Teenage Riot, Black Sabbath / Godsmack, Cravin' Melon,
Duraluxe, Doubledrive / Powerman 2000, Duran Duran, Luscious Jackson,
Sheila Divine, Sonic Youth, James Taylor, Ultimate Fakebook, Weird
Al Yankovic
Back Issues of Consumable
---
INTERVIEW: Robyn Hitchcock
- Rey Roldan
The world of British avant-pop god Robyn Hitchcock consists of
surrealistic landscapes occupied by balloon men, wasps, antwomen... and,
as of now, cheese. And lots of it.
Apparently a connoisseur of pasteurized curd, Robyn felt so
compelled by it that he wrote "The Cheese Alarm" (from his new album
_Songs for Sophia_), which chronicles the tale of an addict who is
compelled to gorge on every cheese he can find. Unfortunately, he forgot
one.
"There's one that I don't mention, which is the 'Queen Cheese'.
It's a cheese called mimolette," he says from his London home. "It's the
cheese before which we are most powerless. It's a French cheese from up
towards Belgium and Holland. It's got Dutch elements in it, especially
the way it fits into that round globe that many cheeses do. It's a red
orange cheese... the color of a flaming sunset."
It's a regret that Robyn can't seem to forget. The omission
occupies a lot of his idle time. "I should've put it in [the song]
and I don't quite know why I didn't. I couldn't quite find a good
rhyme that could fit in there," he continues. "I was going to write,
'Ah, mimolette with your red, melon grin' but I just couldn't find the
line that would go with it. It was going to end with something like
'... the shape that I'm in," but it just didn't. I often sit there and
try to make up the phantom line with mimolette in it. I guess I'll
have to save it for the remixes of this track," he laughs.
_Songs for Sophia_ is a departure from his recent slate of somber
albums, including 1989's _Queen Elvis_, 1991's _Perspex Island_ and 1996's
_Moss Elixir_. With its uptempo guitars and bouncy percussion, _Songs for
Sophia_ harkens earlier work like 1988's _Globe of Frogs_ and even 1981's
_Black Snake Diamond Role_, his solo debut after the break-up of his
seminal late 70s/early 80s band The Soft Boys.
"[_Songs for Sophia_] is the most upbeat record I've done in years,"
he explains. "In fact, it's got a lot more guitars on it than _Globe of
Frogs_ did. _Globe of Frogs_ was mostly me with Peter Buck [of REM]
contributing guitar to a number of songs. This one's got Peter, Tim
Keegan, Grant Lee Phillips [of Grant Lee Buffalo] on harmonies, and Jon
Brion [who produced the album]. I was trying to reach further back to
_Black Snake Diamond Role_. I wanted to make something that was less
somber and a bit more confident."
With that in mind, Robyn succeeds big time. The guitar-driven
"Viva! Sea-Tac" (a paean to the Northwestern corner of the US - Seattle and
Tacoma) revisits early 80s melodic punk with Peter Buck's electric 12-string
swerving in and out of Robyn's guitars. The meandering acoustic guitar of
"Mexican God" skips along to his sordid tale of gore and bloodshed and
crushed babies.
But it's the love songs that stand out. Unlike most sappy songs
of romance, Robyn's takes sinister twists and turns, walking a thin line
between beauty and disgust. "You've Got a Sweet Mouth on You, Baby" begins
its focus on his lover's sensuality - her "golden tongue", how her "lips
are like a butterfly" - but then turns into a song of sinister desire and
loss ("I embraced you in my coffin/ And I haven't seen you since").
"Well, I think it's the thin line to walk," he explains. "It's
easier [to walk that line] than to walk the line between life and death...
although that's probably more intriguing. 'You've Got a Mouth...' is a
weird lovesong because the singer can't quite reach the woman he singing
to. It's kinda like an unrequited love.
"Back when I was a kid, lovesongs repulsed me," he continues.
"A few tastes that you learn to like as an adult - tobacco, liquor, sex -
sometimes are disgusting when you were a kid. The idea that your sex
organs, which basically is just used for waste products and a point of
embarrassment as a kid and becomes a source of power, pleasure and
God-knows-what as you grow older, is disturbing to a 12 year-old kid."
"These days, what I'm writing are 'tender songs', maybe not
necessarily 'lovesongs', but songs of longing. When I was a little macho
British boy, I always thought 'Eeeeeew, this is disgusting. It's too
soppy or whatever.' But now, listening to Nat King Cole or Frank Sinatra
no longer gives me the heebies."
---
REVIEW: Texas, _The Hush_ (Universal/Mercury)
- Jon Steltenpohl
"For me," says Sharleen Spiteri, "this new record is not just
our best yet, this is the Texas album we've been building up to
throughout our entire history" Well, maybe. _The Hush_ is most
definitely the Texas album that finds them sounding, well, exactly
like Abba. Not that there's anything wrong with that. I like Abba. I
have their greatest hits CD. Lots of my friends have Abba albums.
Erasure liked Abba enough to record a whole EP of covers.
No matter, really. _The Hush_ is apparently the album Texas
has been leading up to all these years, and we should take it as it is.
No matter how much it sounds like Abba. At its core, it is an album
rooted in the '70s. Touches of Abba and the BeeGees abound. We're
talking songs like "Tell Me The Answer," which feature falsetto verses
and sparkly percussion. Sure, there's some newer sounding guitar added
here and there and some of the chorus arrangements sound a bit like
Annie Lennox. But, you just can't shake that Abba feeling.
Sometimes, the soul sound is real. "Move In" is probably the
best track on the album. It's a dreamy, laid back piece of UK soul that
works very well. Spiteri's voice is smooth and sultry; her vocal touches
on "remember all the times we had" is simply sexy. The addition of
strange, high-pitched doubled vocals works pretty well, and Spiteri
trades licks with a beautiful instrument that sounds like a muted
trumpet, but might well be her own voice through a synthesizer. The
bongo drums and the bouncy bassline in the background keep the beat
rolling. It's a nice track (with barely a hint of Abba).
The lead single from the album, "In our Lifetime," is fairly
Abba-free also. The Chinese-sounding background is a bit distracting,
but the beat is okay. "The Day Before I Went Away," "Day After Day,"
and "Summer Son" are the most Abba-like tracks on the whole album. "The
Day Before I Went Away" has a quiet touch to it and is a nice way to
end an album. "Day After Day" is a sappy ballad that finds Texas trying
to decide if they are Abba or any one of the classic Motown girl groups.
And "Summer Son"? Well, it starts out with those nice ringing bells that
just scream "ABBA!"
_The Hush_ might not be everyone's idea of a great album, but
it certainly has its audience. It's lazy soul sound with full vocals
and a nice, steady beat is easy on the ears. You can dance to the album
in a nice slow rhythm with your eyes opened or closed, and, in this age
of excessive beats per minute, laid back isn't that bad at all. The
sound of Texas' first two albums is nearly non-existent, and _The Hush_
is much closer to _White On Blond_ which was an international and UK
best seller and virtually unheard of in the US. _The Hush_ will
probably suffer the same fate as there aren't many radio stations in
the US that could fit them in their format.
Oh, and did I mention they sound a little bit like Abba?
---
REVIEW: The Flaming Lips, _The Soft Bulletin_ (Warner Brothers)
- Andrew Duncan
The Flaming Lips are artists who create songs like a painter slaps
paint on a canvas, and _The Soft Bulletin_ is the Monet of their career.
_Clouds Taste Metallic_ may have been their most straightforward
attempt at creating a pop album, but The Lips have always been extremists
in a radio-friendly world. The event of the boom box concerts -- shows
where a series of boom boxes were orchestrated by vocalist Wayne Coyne to
play different sounds -- and _Zaireeka_ -- a four-CD set made to play
simultaneously -- the Oklahoma City natives have stepped over the edge
in the alternative arena. Now, with _The Soft Bulletin_, the band has
created their most experimental effort to date.
The CD begins like a picture-perfect day blooming with melodies
and harmonies connected with sampled loops of string arrangements dancing
about.
The band -- Coyne, Seven Drozd (drums, guitars and other stuff)
and Michael Ivins (bass, guitars and vocals) -- enlisted producer Peter
Mokran (R. Kelly, Michael Jackson and other R&B artists) to help give two
of their songs, "Race For The Prize" and "Superman," a bigger sound.
What The Lips do best is twist simplistic elements into ingenious
ideas. "Feeling Yourself Disintegrate" demonstrates best, with a vocal
drumbeat recorded twice and augmented only to subliminally transition
into a real drumbeat.
Like mad scientists, the band concocts a complicated formula of
psychedelic rock and '60s-style Euro-film score. Their songs can either
be giddy -- "The Spiderbite Song," where Coyne tells the story of when
Drozd suffered hand injuries from a spider bite -- or dramatic -- "The
Observer" is a brief instrumental similar to an Italian tragedy.
Like a children's story, _The Soft Bulletin_ is a great lyrical
reverence to create innocence in sound.
---
REVIEW: Weird Al Yankovic, _Running With Scissors_ (Volcano)
- Bob Gajarsky
This generation's master pop parodist, Weird Al Yankovic,
has returned to poke fun at today's musical culture with his ninth
album, _Running With Scissors_.
Complete with a combination of 'cover' songs (tweaked
lyrically by Al), originals, and the ever popular polka medley,
Yankovic has produced another album which should please his ever
growing legion of fans.
The first single (and video), "The Saga Begins", marks a
triumphant return to Al's mock arena. Plucked from Don McLean's
classic "American Pie", Saga accurately tells the tale of a young
Darth Vader in the Phantom Menace. Supposedly, Al combed the
Internet for plot details well in advance of the movie's release,
and although there was less than a month between the release of
Phantom and _Scissors_, the results are remarkably accurate.
In a return to the world of food songs, Yankovic paordies
the Cherry Poppin' Daddies on "Grapefruit Diet". The swing favorite
becomes an ode to losing weight in one of his smartest parodies
since...well, "Fat". And "Pretty Fly For A Rabbi", from the Offspring
song about that white guy is hilarous, not just to goyims and
yentas.
Not nearly as funny are the Puff Daddy clone "It's All About
The Pentiums" and the parody of the Barenaked Ladies' "One Week",
"Jerry Springer". Of course, your mileage may vary.
In the originals department, "Germs" is a nearly note-for-note
ringer of Nine Inch Nails' "Terrible Lie", while "Truck Drivin' Song"
walks a line between country music and Mojo Nixon, with an unspoken
question - is the truck driver male or female? (The question and
joke will become evident upon listening to the cut).
Some people love him, and some people hate him. But no
matter what you think of him, Weird Al Yankovic and his band
always are an accurate reflection of the pop music scene. _Running
With Scissors_ just continues part of Al's twenty year tradition.
---
INTERVIEW: Danny Heifetz from Mr. Bungle
- Matthew Carlin
Mr. Bungle started a very long time ago in the county of Eureka
in the state of California. After its vocalist, Mike Patton, joined
Faith No More and became awfully popular in the beginning of the '90s,
Mr. Bungle became known as "Patton's other band." Despite the agita
this seemed to cause certain individuals, it did help land the group a
deal with Warner Bros., which spurred a notorious self-titled album
produced by John Zorn in 1991. With a rousing blend of carnival,
heavy metal, jazz, other sorts of music and absolutely filthy lyrics,
"Mr. Bungle" and the ensuing tour inspired a very loyal, some would say
cult, following.
Dedicated fans didn't hear much from Mr. Bungle again until 1995
when _Disco Volante_ was quietly released. Some were elated by this
experimental masterpiece with lyrics that are more cryptic than nasty
and a live show that stressed musicianship over breaking stuff. Other
Bungle show denizens still screamed for "Girls of Porn" from the first
album.
Now the members of Mr. Bungle have further defied categorization
with a (no, really) wondrous pop music release. A sort of post-modern
postcard that says "Fuck You" to post-modernism, _California_ rivals
_Pet Sounds_ in terms of production, is more clever than _OK Computer_
and contains more nifty keyboard sounds than those frogs from Air could
even fathom. With the exit of horn player Theo Lengyel, there are five
core members of Mr. Bungle: Patton, Trey Spruance, Bar (pronounced
"bear") McKinnon, Trevor Dunn and drummer/percussionist extraordinaire
Danny Heifetz who was happy to report he was in full touring mode,
ready to answer some questions from Salt Lake City or Denver or
somewhere or other west of New York.
CONSUMABLE ONLINE: There seems to be a lot of Burt Bacharach
and Brian Wilson influence on _California._ Is this a recent influence,
or has it always been looming in the background?
DANNY HEIFETZ: Beach Boys and Brian Wilson have been in our
heads for years. I tried to get these guys to do something from the
Beach Boys _Casino Royale_ about ten years ago. They didn't go for it.
How can you not be influenced, at least slightly, by Brian Wilson if
you have squeezable melodic intentions?
CO: There also seems to be some tunes that are more "marketable"
than the usual Mr. Bungle stuff on the new one. Was this a conscious
effort, or did it just kind of happen?
DH: It was a conscious effort to be more melodic and concise,
but it was not guided by any "market planning strategy." It's just
something we needed to spiritually flatten our inflated interpretations
of today's musical voids, as grossfold as they are these days.
CO: There seems to be a strained relationship between the band
and Warner Bros.-no video for _Disco Volante,_ not a whole lot of
promotion - what do you think that stems from?
DH: _Disco Volante_ was our renaissance in the Age of
Miscommunication. Sure, Warner Bros. didn't do shit. We thought somebody
in our camp of one was doing all the communicating. It never started.
Then again, we did have a reputation for maintaining a distant
relationship with the label. This time things are going better (not
great) with the Bros. Overseas, however, we are getting fucked HARD by
the situation with Slash Records, our overseas label. They have nowhere
to release the record over there, they say. So we're fucked, thanks to
a "side deal" done in our original contract. Warner Bros.'s lawyer
"found" this agreement after our summer Euro tour had been booked.
Great. Thanks pal.
CO: Similarly, you guys (and a fair number of your fans too)
seem kind of disheartened by the more mung-headed fans-the ones who
yell "Girls of Porn" at every show. Does that piss you off?
DH: Last night's Denver show: "Girls of Porn"-huge fucking
chant. Yuck. Oh, well. Some people never grow up. Christ, even we did!
CO: Why do you think they stick around (and yell "Girls of Porn"
still) even though they're associating you with something you did almost
10 years ago?
DH: Denver was a classic example of this. We hadn't been there
in over 7 years. No wonder they thought we still played that fucking
song. Our fault, really. Although on our previous tour someone fucked
up our Denver show, so we didn't get to play the DV tour in '95.
CO: Something that always struck me about Mr. Bungle is that
the guys in the band seem to make it a point that this band is not the
focus of their respective careers or lives, but more a project that is
just one facet of that career/life. But at the same time, you guys have
such an amazing chemistry and such a long history, why don't you make
Bungle your main focus?
DH: Bungle is definitely our main focus through the end of the
year. Of course everyone has other projects that involve people waiting
for us. It sucks, but we have to "milk" this for a few months at least,
or until it all dies down, whichever happens more enjoyably.
CO: Following that one, and although this is probably kind of
an annoying one, do you think now that Mike Patton no longer has
obligations to Faith No More that kind of frees everybody up to give
Bungle a little more time and attention?
DH: Yeah, this is Mike's priority but he's got other shit going
on all the while just like the rest of us.
CO: It has been mentioned that Mr. Bungle was set to play some
European festival dates and that Anthony Keidis specifically asked you
guys be taken off the bill. What was the deal with that?
DH: Keidis has a real problem with us. I don't know why. I
loved their first two or three records. There, now put us back the tour.
He seems to be getting fat, doesn't he? Hell, I am too. Can't we
(fatties) all just get along?
CO: You guys are extremely ambitious and pretty experimental,
yet always tuneful and listenable (jeez, I sound like a music critic),
is this something you think about? I mean, do you and the band think in
terms of writing songs specifically for Mr. Bungle?
DH: We make the music work within our realm but that is
expandable and it contracts like any organism in either a microwave or
a freezer. We are who we are. Let it Be. All you need is love. It's
only a northern song. Obladi-Oblafuckingdah.
CO: Your name doesn't appear much in the writing credits for
Mr. Bungle, why is that?
DH: I'm not a very helpful person.
CO: Your credit does appears on _Disco Volante_ as "I Quit"
playing "a woodblock-what was that about?
DH: I wasn't a very happy person back then. Plus I played the
fuck out of that woodblock. I remember also thinking "if I quit, at
least I could say my 30-day written notice had been handed in."
CO: Getting back to music questions, how do you prepare for a
tour when the music is so complicated and has so many different
instruments? Are the rehearsals just purely hellish?
DH: Rehearsals aren't as difficult as the technical organization
and the arranging, which ends up being delegated to Trey and also Mike,
with written shit going to Trevor and Bar. I sit in the corner reading
New York Mets Inside Pitch, ordering the mini-Shea Stadium model from
the Franklin Mint. It looks great. I played there once before a
Mets-Cubs game in the heat of the September '84 pennant race. I was on
the St. Regis Saints. We won the hotel fast-pitch softball title and
played ABC-TV. I went one for three against the weatherman. Met Bobby
Valentine, way back then. He's cool, fuck all you naysayers.
CO: After John Zorn produced the first one, the next two albums
were self-produced, why the decision to do that?
DH: We know our music better than anybody.
CO: Speaking of the first album, I can barely hear the bass
drum at all. This drives me nuts, did the production of the first one
bother you at all?
DH: Yeah, I didn't know shit about recording drums at the time.
I guess I was convinced that gates, new drum heads and shitty reverbs
were really great things. I hope I'm not still that stupid.
CO: What happened to Theo?
DH: I miss him. He added a huge chemical imbalance that helped
us on the road. He hates us and rightfully so. The music changed, plain
and simple. Very little call for saxes, trombone or flute. He was an
original member. I'm not. Makes me feel a bit like a union-buster. He
once shit in a goldfish bowl on stage.
---
REVIEW: Glen Scott, _Without Vertigo_ (550 Music)
- Jon Steltenpohl
He stands nearly ready to jump, his dark, soul searching face
peering out from a white turtle neck with a white jacket and white pants
against a background of white sky and seagulls. He is Glen Scott, and his
album, _Without Vertigo_ stands out also. Like the seagulls he's pictured
with, he isn't all that different. But, if you look closer, you can see
he's pointing a different direction than the rest of the flock.
Glen Scott seems a lot like that. Although he grew up as the
preacher's son and got snared into the choir at a young age, the church
was in the U. K. instead of the states, and so Scott's pedigree features
a different kind of soul than is typically found in the states. Instead
of Al Green or Stevie Wonder, Scott is like Seal or Terrence Trent
D'Arby, where R&B is just one aspect of his music. Discordant harmonies
and intriguing lyrics out of D'Arby's song book are set against engaging
rhythms and convincing vocals that are the hallmark of Seal's work.
But most often, in a strange, unexpected way, Scott shows a
strong affinity with the music of Peter Gabriel. His poignant vocals
and his use of layered rhythms and background voices very much recalls
the work of Gabriel during the early 80's. He is a perfectionist in the
area of perfection, and he knows how to take seemingly simple and
abstract sounds and put them together in a touching and beautiful way.
When he gets it right, the effect of Scott's music is simply
perfect. It is catchy enough to sing along to and meaningful enough not
to be bubble gum pop. On the title track, "Without Vertigo," Scott
starts out with a simple slow sound effect of a quiet subway station
and then a walking piano beat. His voice comes in with a whispered
confession about the toll stress has taken on his life. Eventually the
song moves through twists and turns, peaks and valleys of swirling
strings and a signal call of beats and scratches. Scott layers his
voice multiple times into haunting echoed harmonies and fills the
background with Joe Cocker flairs.
When he gets it wrong, because he's going off the deep-end like
Terence Trent D'Arby or its because he's out-perfecting himself. On "My
World," the song might as well be off of any D'Arby's albums. It is
mysterious and filled with a bizarre soul touch of exotic chords,
abstract beats, impassioned falsetto. Lyrics like "Fruit cakes and
battle plans/why did Pilate wash his hands" are typical of the song.
Depending on your feeling's about D'Arby's music, this is either
incredibly annoying or incredibly intense.
On "A Piece of my Heart," Scott gives us his best work. It is
a quiet love song that reassures a distant friend or lover. "Take a
piece of my heart," implores Scott, "Make it all your own/So when we're
apart/You'll never be alone/never be alone." Set against a small section
of expressive strings and acoustic guitar, Scott's tender voice is
perfect. Unfortunately, the desire for studio perfection leads Scott
to kind of botch the song at the end. He closes with a voice box
harmony that complements his a closing line about "the coldest winter"
which ends in a strange chord that settles out uneasily as the song
fades. It's done impeccably well, but leaves you with a slightly odd
taste.
On the whole, _Without Vertigo_ is an impressive album from
newcomer Glen Scott. His skill in the studio and, his ability to make
singable melodies bode well for the future. The only question is
whether, like Peter Gabriel, he will get better with age, or like
Terence Trent D'Arby, he will spiral down into a stranger and more
abstract sound.
---
REVIEW: Scanner, _Lauwarm Instrumentals_ (Beggars Banquet/Sulfur)
- Andrew Duncan
Sound can be equally, if not more powerful, than any image leaving
an uncontrolled environment for the mind to react.
_Lauwarm Instrumentals_ is a vast soundscape that does just that.
If any normal person had created the same collection of songs, they would
probably be considered an inspiring individual, but for Robin Rimbaud's --
better known as Scanner -- credentials, he is simply tagged as a visionary
rebel in the world of experimental electronic music.
What distinguishes Rimbaud from other electronic artists is that
he is not just an experimentalist, but a composer with a reputation that
resembles the like of John Cage or Phillip Glass. Just this year alone,
he has worked with a 15-piece choir recording for the BBC radio production
of "Midsummer Nights Dream," Anne Michael's "Fugitive Pieces" and an
extended feature on poet Sylvia Plath. He can also mark his sound
interpretation of Jean Cocteau's for the BBC right up there with the rest.
However, recording for the BBC is not all he is capable of, as
the list of composing for the Paris Opera House to the Metropolitan Museum
in Korea is equally awe-inspiring.
If that is not enough, he has also received a Fellowship in Sound
at John Moore's University in Liverpool, has a B.A. in Modern Arts and is
a writer for experimental literature among an expansive resume as a
musician, writer and artist.
Taken what he knows about the classical world, and ripping it
apart, Scanner is the end result in black and white (well, maybe duotone).
But how does an album like _Lauwarm Instrumentals_ fare to a country like
the United States that is driven on radio-friendly dribble topping the
music charts? Very well, thank you very much.
This six-song array of burgeoning rhythms, swooping around like
Edgar Allen Poe's raven, filled with primitive tribalism and extreme
electronic minimalism leaves much room for the mind to wander.
From the seven-minute layered droning of "passage de recherche"
to the Opal-meets-gothic contemporary of "ground veil," Scanner
manipulates the listener with a palette of early industrial, Krautrock,
goth and mild fits of electronica ala Spaceman 3.
Summer may not have been the most appropriate time to release
_Lauwarm Instrumentals_, but when the nights begin to cool and the long
coat is taken out of the closet, people will soon be writing about
Rimbaud as they do the early pioneers of modern music.
---
REVIEW: The Donnas, _Get Skintight_ (Lookout! Records)
- Jason Cahill
When The Donnas hit the scene a few years back, many in the
industry labeled them nothing more than a novelty act - four teenage
girls, all named Donna, playing straight forward punk. Two years later,
The Donnas are still around, while most of those same industry
executives are probably working on their resumes. Much like their
debut album, "American Teenage Rock 'N' Roll Machine," _Get Skintight_
is an onslaught of old school punk with major nods to both Kiss and the
Ramones. They haven't reinvented the wheel, or created something which
transcends generations, but _Get Skintight_ is punk rock in its purest
form.
The Donnas -- four teenage girls from Palo Alto, California --
are the Young Miss version of Sleater Kinney. Their songs come at a
fever pitch, and at times it's hard to distinguish one from another.
But the raw energy and unfiltered intensity on _Get Skintight_ is hard
to miss. The opening track is a full-on assault, complete with screeching
guitars, machismo lyrics and a chorus which is nothing if not catchy --
a good indication of what you can expect on the rest of the album. "Hook
It Up" is about as infectious as they come, if only just a bit
repetitious, and when The Donnas shout out the chorus in unison near
the end of the song, you can't help but smile.
Lyrically, however, The Donnas begin to show their age, or lack
thereof. _Get Skintight_ abounds with references to everything from
Slurpee machines and Hostess cupcakes to fake ID's and BB guns. But
perhaps that's the charm. Amid a handful of alternative albums filled
with songs about death, destruction and despair come The Donnas, whose
biggest concern seems to be finding the next party and a guy who can
satisfy their appetite for fun. It's a refreshing change of pace from
most of today's purveyors of doom and gloom. Wouldn't it be nice if
bands like Manic Street Preachers and Suede threw in the occasional
reference to a Drake's Cake?
Actually, with song titles like "Party Action," "Get Outta My
Room" and "Doin' Donuts," it should really come as no surprise that
_Get Skintight_ is an album where adolescent rockers play adolescent
rock. But to dismiss The Donnas as just that, adolescent rockers, would
be a mistake. True, the themes which are prevalent throughout the album
(partying, having fun, getting laid) are typical teenage battle cries,
but sometimes it's nice to hear a band play balls to the wall rock --
nothing more, nothing less -- without attempting to be deep and
introspective. There's plenty of time for that. For now, just turn up
the volume and think back to a time when the only thing that mattered
was getting laid. Oh, wait -- that still is the only thing that matters.
I guess The Donnas really have created something which transcends
generations.
---
REVIEW: Venice, _Spin Art_ (Vanguard)
- Jon Steltenpohl
Years ago, a little group called The Byrds emerged to change
the world of music. No, they weren't The Beatles or The Stones, but
they had a few classic hits that are heard even today in groups like
The Wallflowers. More importantly, they were the first real "folk rock"
band that merged the hyperness of the rock movement with the harmonies
and softer touches of the coffee house circuit. Later, with Crosby,
Stills, and Nash, the same sound was tailored to an expansion of
incredible harmonies that few have duplicated.
Enter a California band called Venice. They've actually been
around for 17 years, but their niche keeps them hidden from most of
the world. In the modern radio world, a band like this appears on
"triple-A" radio where "triple-A" stands for Acoustic Adult Alternative.
Alternative, yes. But only because they're too old for regular
alternative and too quiet for classic rock. Venice fits this bill
exactly. Like their folk rock ancestors, Venice uses harmonicas,
acoustic guitars, and beautifully integrated harmonies. David Crosby
has even called them "the best vocal group in the country." But, gone
are all of the trappings of the sixties and Woodstock that Crosby's
name envokes. Venice is about as clean cut of a band as you can get.
Still...
Yes, Venice is VH-1 music. The band is comprised of 4 members
of the Lennon family. And, their musical family ties are deep. No, they
aren't related to John Lennon. Instead, the proud proclamation is that
they are "the younger brothers and cousins of the Lennon Sisters from
the Lawrence Welk Show." Fortunately, "Spin Art" is completely free of
any polkas or songs of the south. They, instead, are just very good
vocalists. Their various studio credits include Jackson Browne, David
Crosby, and Linda Ronstadt, as well as Phil Collins' latest, the
soundtrack for Tarzan.
If you enjoy casual acoustic music with great harmonies that
are easy on the ears, you'll really enjoy Venice's _Spin Art_. There's
even a cover of "Landslide" by Fleetwood Mac, which is turning into
one of the most prominently covered songs of the late 90's. The music
isn't typical of alternative and independent music these days, and it
really harkens back to an earlier era. Venice is tailored a bit towards
the Docker's crowd, but it's still done very well and doesn't cross the
line into being cheesy retro.
---
CONCERT REVIEW: Southern Culture on the Skids
- Al Muzer
HOBOKEN, NJ - "Too Much Pork For Just One Fork," "Fried Chicken And
Gasoline," "New Cooter Boogie," "Banana Puddin'," "Tunafish Every Day,"
"Biscuit Eater," "Camel Walk," "Barnyard Ballbuster," "8 Piece Box," "Put
Your Teeth Up On The Window Sill" ... the song titles dotting their
10-release, 14-year back catalog are not only a wide open window into the
mind of guitar wizard/vocalist/head hillbilly Rick Miller, they're also an
on-the-cue clue to the sound of his band, Southern Culture On The Skids
(SCOTS).
A raw, gritty, hedonistic, Creedence-by-way-of-Link Wray-blast of
surf-beat twang with a manic hillbilly gleam, grizzled backwoods vocals, a
supple bass pulse, everything-but-the-kitchen-sink percussion and a
winking devotion to not-at-all-subtle "sex as food/food as sex" lyrical
metaphors with firm groundings in Stax/Volt, molasses-thick funk, drawlin'
country classics, Delta blues and ultra-revved rock-a-billy; SCOTS left
the sell-out crowd at Hoboken, N.J.'s Maxwell's salivating, satiated,
soaked and satisfied after a steamy two hour Sunday night set.
Out to hook as many stragglers and doubters as they could as
quickly as possible, Miller (looking eerily similar to overall-wearing
Green Acres character Fred Ziffle), bassist/vocalist/red neck sex
goddess-mannequin Mary Huff, keyboardist/guitarist/percussionist/
vocalist/XXXL overalls Chris Bess and drummer/percussionist/be-boppin'
madman Dave Hartman wasted little time on formalities and kicked into
the Huff-sung "Nitty Gritty" followed by a foot-stomping version of
"Shotgun" with Miller on lead, a crazed take on "Whole Lotta Things,"
and a frenzied romp through "Daddy Was A Preacher, But Ma Ma Was A Go-Go
Girl" with Huff, once again taking over lead vocal duties.
Pausing to let the band (and the already dripping crowd) catch
its collective breath, Miller told a rambling story about his father
buying a mobile home and installing a hot tub in place of the bedroom
and plush orange carpeting throughout - the perfect introduction to an
audience participation version of "My House Has Wheels."
A few more beers and a shot or two of Jager found the group blazing
through loose-limbed versions of "Banana Puddin'," "C'mon 'N' Get It,"
"Firefly," "Jack The Ripper," "VooDoo Cadillac," "House Of Bamboo," "Dance
For Me," "Camel Walk," "Soul City," "I Learned To Dance In Mississippi,"
"Great Atomic Power," "Greenback Fly," "40 Miles From Vegas," "Chicken
Shit Farmer" and "8 Piece Box" that had the elbow-to-elbow crowd moving as
one greased, buzzed and grinning chicken eating force until the band
finally had to wrap things up around closing time.
A fiery red head fronting a doghouse bass three-piece, Austin's
Kim Lenz and Her Jaguars opened the evening with guts, gams, grins and a
guitar. Winning the crowd over with a combination of rock-a-billy
attitude, blissful enthusiasm and a sassy, My Little Margie-like, girl
next door charm; Lenz snarled, shook and sighed her way through songs
such as "Don't Shake My Tree," "Howl At The Moon," "Trouble In Mind,"
"Choctaw Boogie" and "Only One" that left most of the men (and a few of
the gals) in the club deeply in love and a majority of the women wishing
they knew how to rock.
---
REVIEW: The Crabs, _Sea and Sand_ / Old Time Relijun, _Uterus
and Fire_ (K Records)
- Andrew Duncan
When Teddy Roosevelt said, "Speak softly and carry a big stick,"
he must have been referring to Olympia, Washington, a small Northwest
town located about 30 miles south of Seattle and home to the Olympia
Underground.
In the early '90s, Calvin Johnson formed the Dub Narcotic
Studios and K Records. Little did he predict the cult success of
Olympia's collective of bands that create a diverse array of independent
music.
To best demonstrate both sides of the spectrum, on one hand,
there is the clean-pop sound of The Crabs. On the other, there is the
junkyard punk of Old Time Relijun.
The Crabs are veterans of the Olympia scene recently completing
their third release, _Sand and Sea_. What makes this album their best
progressive work to date is the addition of Sarah Dougher, an Olympian
who also plays in the all-female group Cadallaca. Her appearance with the
band could not be more welcoming, shaping their lo-fi happiness. Her
simple organ grinding only compliments Jon Lunsford's and Lisa Jackson's
elegant vocals. "Tumbling Away" introduces the album with modestly catchy
up-tempo beats reminiscent of the '80s college rock scene. "Market Size"
only gets bolder. The album suddenly transforms into campfire nightlife
as the band softens up with "Bricks of Gold" and the Galaxie 500 feel of
"Snow in Summertime." Before it's over, the band wraps up with the
amateurish surf-style of "I Surrender."
About as shocking as running into your pastor at the local porn
shop, Old Time Relijun is the rusty nail sticking out of the Vatican.
Forget about locking up your daughter, these boys are going straight for
the preacher'swife. Old Time Relijun took notes from the Cramps circa
late-1970s, and stunk up the room a little with their crazy anti-music
establishment. Trust you me, it doesn't get more frightful than this.
From the opening incantation of "Dagger," guitarist and vocalist
Arrington de Dionyso belts out vocals like Yma Sumac on Viagra.
Immediately following, with "Archaeopteryx Claw," Dionyso grinds his
own teeth as he vicariously groans caffeine-drenched words backed by
Evrum's drum pounding that will burn blisters in your brain, not to
mention the repeated guitar riffs that will leave permanent scars. And
that's just the beginning. There's the juice harp exorcism of "Khomus,"
and the blues-rot of "Jail." After the trauma subsides, the band can
hypnotically draw you back to insanely listen to more.
---
NEWS: > New Jerseyites wishing to stay abreast of that state's
breaking bands might want to check out the 7th Annual Asbury
Music Awards. Held on August 10, 7 pm at Asbury Park's
Tradewinds, the $15 admission will entitle music lovers to
witness 11 of the Garden State's up-and-coming bands.
And, Consumable Online's own Al Muzer will be one of this
year's hosts, along with MTV's Laura Lifshitz. Further
information on the event can be found at http://www.bne.com
> The Foo Fighters' imprint label, Roswell Records,
has teamed up with a new distributor - RCA - and their new
album is due to arrive in stores in November, 1999.
---
TOUR DATES:
Atari Teenage Riot
Jul. 31 Japan Fuji Festival
Aug. 6 Chicago, IL Riviera Theatre
Aug. 7 Indianapolis, IN Egyptian Ballroon
Aug. 8 Milwaukee, WI Modjeska Theatre
Black Sabbath / Godsmack
Aug. 2 Biloxi, MS Mississippi Coast
Aug. 4 Birmingham, AL Oak Mountain
Aug. 6 Raleigh, NC Walnut Creek
Aug. 8 Greenville, SC Bilo Center
Cravin' Melon
Jul. 29 Atlanta, GA Smiths Old Bar
Duraluxe
Aug. 2 New York City, NY The Continental
Aug. 5 Providence, RI The Living Room
Aug. 9 Washington, DC The Black Cat
Aug. 12 Atlanta, GA Atlantis Music Conference
Doubledrive / Powerman 2000
Jul. 30 Hallendale, FL Button South
Jul. 31 Tampa, FL Masquerade
Aug. 1 Orlando, FL House Of Blues
Aug. 4 Charlotte, NC Tremont Music Hall
Aug. 5 Washington, DC The Nation
Aug. 7 Old Bridge, NJ Birch Hill
Aug. 8 Providence, RI Living Room
Aug. 10 Boston, MA Avalon
Aug. 11 Philadelphia, PA Trocadero
Aug. 12 Pittsburgh, PA Graffiti's
Duran Duran
Aug. 5-7 Chicago, IL House of Blues
Aug. 8 Atlantic City, NJ Superstar Theatre
Luscious Jackson
Jul. 30 Columbus, OH Newport Music
Jul. 31 Cleveland, OH The Odeon
Aug. 4 Boston, MA Avalon Ballroom
Aug. 5 Providence, RI Radio Show
Aug. 7 Baltimore, WI Recher Theatre
Aug. 10 Washington, DC 930 Club
Aug. 12 New York, NY Irving Plaza
Sheila Divine
Jul. 29 Philadelphia, PA Pontiac Grille
Jul. 30 Cambridge, MA TT The Bear's
Sonic Youth
Aug. 5 Seattle, WA Bumbershoot Festival
James Taylor
Jul. 30 Knutsford Tatton Park
Aug. 1 Cambridge Folk Festival
Aug. 2 Cardiff International Arena
Aug. 4 Doncaster Dome
Aug. 5 Newcastle Telewest Arena
Aug. 7 Edinburgh Lennoxiove House
Aug. 8 Dranouter, Belgium Folk Festival
Ultimate Fakebook
Jul. 29 Wayne, NJ Skater's World
Jul. 30 Cambridge, MA Tt The Bear's
Jul. 31 New York, NY Coney Island High (Down)
Aug. 1 Glenville, PA Vfw Hall
Aug. 6 Lawrence, KS Bottleneck
Weird Al Yankovic
Jul. 30 Pittsburgh, PA IC Light Amph./Pepsi Plaza
Jul. 31 Hampton Beach, NH Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom
Aug. 1 Stanhope, NJ Waterloo Village/Concert Tent
Aug. 3 Westbury, NY Westbury Music Fair
Aug. 5 West Warwick, RI Warwick Musical Theatre
Aug. 6 Cohasset, MA South Shore Music Circus
Aug. 7 Hyannis, MA Cape Cod Melody Tent
Aug. 8 Hershey, PA Hersheypark Amphitheatre
---
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===
