==== ISSUE 116 ==== CONSUMABLE ======== [July 24, 1997] Editor: Bob Gajarsky Internet: gajarsky@email.njin.net Sr. Correspondents: Jeremy Ashcroft, Tim Kennedy, Reto Koradi, David Landgren, Sean Eric McGill, Tim Mohr, Al Muzer, Jamie Roberts, Joe Silva, John Walker Correspondents: Daniel Aloi, Tracey Bleile, Lee Graham Bridges, Scott Byron, Patrick Carmosino, Janet Herman, Bill Holmes, Eric Hsu, Tim Hulsizer, Jiji Johnson, Stephen Lin, Scott Miller, P. Nina Ramos, Linda Scott, Scott Slonaker, Simon Speichert, Jon Steltenpohl, Simon West, Lang Whitaker Technical Staff: Chris Candreva, Dave Pirmann Address all comments, subscriptions, etc. to gajarsky@email.njin.net ================================================================== 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: XTC's Andy Partridge (part 2) - Joe Silva REVIEW: Sarah McLachlan, _Surfacing_ - Lang Whitaker REVIEW: Faith No More, _Album Of The Year_ - Reto Koradi REVIEW: Neil Young, _Year Of The Horse_ - Tim Kennedy REVIEW: Primus, _Brown Album_ - Simon Speichert REVIEW: Brian Howe, _Tangled In Blue_ - Linda Scott REVIEW: Paul Carrack, _Blue Views_ - Jiji Johnson REVIEW: Barely Pink, _Number One Fan_ - Scott Slonaker REVIEW: Cujo, _Adventures In Foam_ - Tim Hulsizer REVIEW: Manbreak, _Come And See_ - Bob Gajarsky NEWS: Cause and Effect, Jane's Addiction, Megadeth TOUR DATES: Baboon, Backsliders, Boston, Brad / Verbow, The Clarks, Cravin' Melon, Furthur Festival (incl. Black Crowes and many more), G3 (Joe Satriani / Steve Vai / Kenny Wayne Shepherd), Government Mule / Sweet Vine, Guttermouth, Irving Plaza, Lollapalooza (Tool / Prodigy/Korn/many more), Lunachicks, Megadeth, Moxy Fruvous, Radiohead, Rye Coalition, Sister Hazel / Cowboy Mouth, Size 14, Supergrass, Supertramp, Vallejo, Verve Pipe / Tonic / K's Choice, Warped Tour Dates , World Party, Young Dubliners Back Issues of Consumable --- INTERVIEW: XTC's Andy Partridge (part 2) - Joe Silva CO: From the last time I talked to you, I remember one time you had told me that you had sort of called up a friend of yours and he came and carted most of your music way. Are you buying new stuff? AP: The only stuff I've bought in the last year has been mostly music from either the twenties or the thirties. I've been buying kind of syncopated jazz stuff or really old Duke Ellington kind of thing. I recently bought an entire box set of Robert Johnson. So, nothing that's been recorded after 1940. I don't know why, I guess it's cuz I can't figure out how they do that stuff. I know how they do all that pop stuff. Being school of pop Merlin, I know how they do that kind of thing. But, I can't figure out how or why they do syncopated jazz or really crusty old blues stuff. I find that stuff really magical CO: There are bits of country music, that even now that I'm graying and getting into my thirties, I can appreciate. AP: I wish I was thirty. No, I don't actually. I'm alright with it. CO: When you're young and you're sitting down to music or whatever. I don't think you really have time for an extensive vocabulary. AP: Yeah, it's part of the thing of youth, you have to be narrow-minded. CO: You had once mentioned something about a bubblegum LP and now I hear you're interested in a sort of bootleg project. AP: We just started that actually. There's so many bootlegs of us out there and I know people want to hear that stuff,but I feel really bad that people are buying CD's that are taken from tenth generation cassettes. And so I thought it would be good fun to take a bunch of the best of the stuff that we never recorded and just get together in my garden shed and record it. And it would be good-ish quality, because it's only home equipment but it would be reasonable enough quality, and people can get to hear reasonable enough recordings of those songs. So, I don't think we'd be beating the bootleggers or whatever but, it would give people a choice if they saw two of the disks there they can have a better recorded one and get something the band was really involved in rather than having a demo of something stolen off of a record company's desk or producer's whatever in the past and being copied and copied and copied. I'd much rather let people get better quality recordings. CO: There's been tons of stuff that's filtered out. Does that bother you at all? AP: If I think about the moral side of it, I get very upset because we had a shitty album deal. I mean we were getting a pittance and to think that with those bootlegs, we're not even getting a pittance. So, that side of it upsets me but, I can't feel upset if people are getting enjoyment out of it. That kind of counterbalances the money you'll never see. So, that sort of weighs it out. CO: You don't mind, as it were, showing people your notes. AP: Not so much notes...I don't think you can go down music street and it be a narrow road. It's a really wide, kind of huge vista. It's a wide avenue. You can get in all the things that you ever wanted to do with music. I mean. who knows, in a few years time, we may be doing some syncopated jazz. I don't know. But, this big wide avenue, for me, takes in noisy kinda pop stuff, it takes in jazz-tinged stuff, kinda ballad stuff, it takes in psychedelic music; it takes in dub music, it takes in ambient...or ambulance (chuckles) music. It takes in a whole load of stuff that I feel is completely bonified in me. It's the real McCoy because I just don't have one facet. I think everybody in whatever chosen artform-musician or a writer or a film maker, everyone has at least two faces. Why not get joy out of at least a dozen? So those are all musical styles I feel completely at ease working with. There are a lot that I haven't got into that I would feel completely at ease working with. Bubblegum music, I think I have a huge debt to bubblegum music. CO: Could you name an artist, like just off the top of your head? AP: Oh. just all things like a band named the Equals in England. I don't know if you ever got to hear them. They were originally two white guys and three black guys and the one black fellow that stood in the middle painted half his body white so there were two and a half of each color in the band. They played these really banal, kind of giddy and exciting youth club kind of things. They had some really huge hits in England but I guess they didn't come over the Atlantic. They were like bubblegum ska. They were very direct. As soon as you put an Equals record, there was an instant party. People like the Equals.. Oh, who was who did that "Yummy Yummy"? The Ohio Express? Lemon Pipers, although they were sort of at the psychedelic end of bubble gum. "Mellow Yellow" meets a Quick Joey Small or "Mony Mony" meets almost anything by the early Troggs. You know, it transcends or descends below all expectations and thus it comes out in another dimension somewhere. It goes faster than the speed of light ale and bursts through into the banal zone. I have a huge debt to bubblegum music. I love it. CO: When you guys finally ink something, is it kind of an anxiety about which style to use? AP: No, and I think this has lost us some deals, I've been really pig-headed about what we want to do. I want to do two disks because of all the material that's been written, the batch that came out after _Nonsuch_ was mainly acoustic and orchestral. Sort of orc-oustic and because we couldn't work, I guess I sort of got that out of my system and then the later stuff, I wanted to hear really noisy electric guitars going. The music has gravitated almost to two different camps. Instead of smashing then all together like on _Nonsuch_, I think it might be more edible if we corral one type to one disk and the other to another disk. But the thought of doing two disks has been filling labels with horror. CO: Nobody, especially in America, wants to put all their eggs in one basket. AP: Well, I know I won't write anything else until I get this stuff out of the way. It's like a blockage. I've got to get it out. I've finished off 36 songs, which isn't a great amount in four years so I've got to get them out of the way. I think that in that mass, in the four album mass, I think there are two really good albums. And they've got to come out or else we won't be able to move on. CO: So, you and the Czech Orchestra on the A disk... AP: Yeah, there you go and on the next one, us just making a bit of a row. CO: Since you brought it up, what do you think about _Nonsuch_ these days? AP: I haven't heard it for a while, for a couple of years. But, I'm immensely proud of some of the stuff on there, stuff like "Rook" and "Humble Daisy", "Books are Burning". I'm just really proud of a lot of that material on there. But, it was one of our worst selling records, I guess it just didn't click with people. I think it was too long. Yeah, I think it could of done with being trimmed out. CO: _Oranges and Lemons_ was not short. AP: No, I don't think I was aware of that one being too long but now I'm much more tuned in to the length of albums. Anything over forty minutes starts to feel too long. Yeah, I think _Oranges and Lemons_ was too long but I certainly think _Nonsuch_ was too long and that's part of the reason that I'd like to make the listening experience on the next thing we do to guide your ears a bit more thoroughly through it. CO: Paul Bailey (manager) said something about putting a box set together with Geffen. AP: Yeah, Virgin's final fling contractually, and I shiver in my loon pants at the thought of it, will be a box set. They are gonna get the diving suit on and get the scraper out and go down to that barrel and see what there is. It fills me with trepidation, I don't know what they're gonna do. There's nothing really noteworthy apart from the official stuff we put out. But they've got a whole load of live tapes from way back when and they've got access to some BBC sessions that have never come out. I'm not sitting here thinking "Oh my God, I can't wait til that comes out", cause I don't. I don't think it's A-class material. CO: Will Geffen do that in the U.S. as well? AP: I don't know but we can't stop Virgin. It's one of those things so they could let us go. We had to agree that they could exploit us some more in our absence until they let us go. CO: So, what do you think of _Upsy Daisy_? Is it sort of for corralling the sweet bits of your stuff? AP: It's not our suggestion for running order or choice of tracks or anything. I mean this is really Geffen and thankfully, they listened to a couple of our suggestions and put on a few album tracks. I think "Seagull Screaming" is on there and "Chalkhills and Children". I just think that maybe other bands will pick this up and maybe they've heard "Mayor of Simpleton" they'll go back and listen to some of the other albums. CO: Yeah, you could tell this a kind of package type thing. I'm surprised they didn't push it closer to Christmas. AP: Yeah, I think they wanted to but they didn't want to pay anything for it. We at least got a little bit of an advance out of them. CO: Well that's good you got something for it. Did you wind up assembling the _Rag and Bone_ collection? AP: Yeah, people kept saying "Why can't we get whatever on CD?" and I thought, "There's a whole load of stuff laying around that's kind of B-side or giveaways or obscure things that you could only get on vinyl and so it would be a bit of fun to gather all these together on one disk." And that's the best photo session we've done (laughs...cover art featured metal sculpture versions of the band). It's the most like us though, it really captured us! I made those up on the floor of the photography studio. Yeah this guys got a load of wreckage on his farm and I told him to bring some of it in. I told him, "I want some handle bars and I want just anything that you can bring in from this collection of wrecks on your farm." He brought in a trailer load of stuff and I sort of threw it around on the floor until it sort of looked like us and I went " There you go, that's the photo session." CO: How did Dave and Colin like it? AP: I think they afforded themselves a smirk. Captured our complexions perfectly. CO: The producer issue, now that you're getting ready to do this, are you ready to work with someone again? Now that you're free, can you just say "That's it. Just leave us alone." AP: Hmmm...That's really tricky because to do really well you have to sort of take off your overseeer's head and put on your performing head. And it's tough to keep changing heads. It's much better to have someone you can trust to oversee the birth of this baby. We'll do the pushing and they'll do the greasing and the pulling and there you go, it's born. We've been talking to a few people. Actually, interestingly enough, we've been asking the Dust Brothers, are they or is he interested. And, we've got some interesting noises coming back but, we'll see. We'd bicker terribly. If I was instructing everybody what too do, I'd end up with no band. CO: Well, I've heard Chris Hughes possibly... AP: I think he's gonna work out to be just too damn expensive. You wouldn't believe what some of these people are charging. CO: You would think it would be more of a labor of love. Your productions are pretty complex at times. You'd figure that somebody would want to do it just for the nature of being involved in it. Like I was talking to Adrian Belew and I sort of tossed it out to see what he would say and he went "Oh, I'd love to do that. They wouldn't have to pay me a dime." and he was just really excited about the possibility. AP: Actually, funnily enough, he was one of the names I contemplated. He recently sent me a couple of albums that he did, including _Op Zop Too Wah_. CO: Did you like that? AP: Yeah it was okay but I really liked _Mr. Musichead_. I really like the track "1967." I didn't like the other thing he sent (_The Guitar As Orchestra_.) It might have been good as an effects demo disk. CO: I've think it more or less coincides with the fact that he just built a studio in his home basement and he was having way too much fun before his wife could bring him out to help her have this baby they have. AP: I considered him. I don't know what kind of producer he'd be. And I almost fear for inflicting this on him actually. We can be a bit demanding. Not too difficult but exacting. CO: But you wonder is it smarter to go with somebody you'd tend to gravitate to more musically since you guys have similar appreciations as opposed to going to the Dust Brothers that aren't necessarily up your alley by reflex. Because they are doing dance records and stuff. AP: Yeah, but I sort of like the kind of skewed sensibility of some of their things. I think it might suit the more electric material we have. I don't know what the hell they'd do with the more orchestral stuff. CO: Well, could you split it and have two producers for the two disks? AP: I don't know, maybe that might be too expensive. Producers are shockingly dear for what a lot of them do, which is not much. I know because I've been a producer and sometimes you do a lot and sometimes you don't depending on how much the musician or act puts in that end. Sometimes it's best if you just stand back. That's what gets it born best. And a lot of producers, probably with us, have to stand back. CO: You know it's interesting though because with all your records you have a good assortment of people. AP: I always wanted to find someone we could stick with but I never really did. You'd find one and think,"Well, he's great at getting the sounds but we need someone to act more like an arranger, editor type person." And then you'd find an arranger type editor person and they might be really bad at engineering or grasping what was going on there. Or you'd meet somebody who had a great vibe with them and they were completely out to lunch if you wanted to talk music; they didn't know what the hell you were talking about. And it's kind of the impossible thing, finding all the requirements in one person. CO: But, even something like the Paul Fox stuff and the track on the _Testimonial Dinner_ tribute album. Both of them carry forth who you guys are. They are obviously done by very different people at different levels. AP: Well, the thing about _Testimonial Dinner_, the uncoolest thing I could think of was to be on your own tribute album, so I said "Look, can we be on it?" I'm really interested in the uncool. I thought it was the most beautifully crap uncool thing, to be honest with you. There wasn't any money. David Yazbeck sort of pulled the whole thing together. It's his baby really. He rang up bands or they approached him to do this and there wasn't any money to actually cut it so we just got this little local demo studio above this motor bike repair place and it was really dismal and stinky up there and we imported as much of our own gear in there as they had to get the session done. It sounds kind of demo-y,a little. It sounds a little small. CO: And when you talk about sticking with producers, you guys certainly haven't been able to do that with drummers. AP: Well, initially, the orchestral stuff, I didn't really see needing a drummer. It's almost like a percussionist may be able to do it but a drummer is just to heavy handed. They're essential for the big noisy guitar thing that we're doing. It would be pointless taking on a person full time because we're not the Monkees. We don't need sort of a balance to our personalities or anything like that. It's great to pick up people as you go along. CO: But, you don't feel the need for a fourth wheel perspective on this thing? AP: Oh. I was going to say yes but I suppose the answer's no. If they're a great player, that's inspirational. They might say "What if we do this?" and suddenly we get into an area we haven't seen. But, that's not something we can plan on. It never seems to work like that. CO: But, what about somebody if you say "We need a fourth person and we really need input" Once you open that door, it might be scary. It could change the output of things. AP: I suppose if somebody was given more input, it would take us back to more of the balance of Terry Chambers to who a lot of the material was built around what he could do with the drums. It was written with his playing in mind...or written with what he was going to do with it. You know, he was going to have this sort of voodoo-y industrial rumble as he got going and they couldn't be songs that that was going to steamroller over and kill. In fact, before he left we were rehearsing the _Mummer_ record with him and he was having such trouble grasping some of that material. CO: You mean conceptually? AP: Just because it wasn't the classic steamrolling stuff that he'd been used to drumming on. It was just a lighter, airier feel to it like on "Love On A Farmboy's Wages," and "Ladybird." You see he would have been home with "Funk Pop A Roll" and possibly "Human Alchemy," but the lighter stuff he was visibly having trouble with. He actually complained to me "This fucking stuff is too fucking weird. I can't play this." in his fluent Trogg. CO: And then he went off. AP: That was it. The drumsticks went down, out the door. The door was shutting and his cymbals were literally still swinging on their stands. CO: No looking back. AP: Absolutely. It was final. He never even rang up someone and even ask someone to drop his kit off or anything. The first part of this interview appeared in the July 15 issue of Consumable Online. --- REVIEW: Sarah McLachlan, _Surfacing_ (Arista) - Lang Whitaker Naked. Bare. Honest. All of these are phrases that can be used to describe the power and brutal soul of Sarah McLachlan. On her new, long-awaited release entitled _Surfacing_, McLachlan strips back a few more layers of her already exposed person to make herself even more available to us. After her first two albums struggled to find their feet, McLachlan struck gold with 1994's _Fumbling Toward Ecstasy_. The mature, layered sound that McLachlan and producer Pierre Marchand mined on _Ecstasy_, is now heard widely (somebody please tell Paula Cole that the cowboys have all gone to listen to the song "Plenty" off of _Ecstasy_ ) on the radio. Three years since the explosion of _Ecstasy_, McLachlan's zealous fans have been salivating for more. _Surfacing_ is more than a bone thrown to the masses; it marks a maturation and progression of the artist - from an album polished and shined to a blinding gleam (_Ecstasy_) to an album stripped down to the bare essentials, as lean and mean as a 3-time Nascar champ. _Surfacing_ finds McLachlan and Marchand scratching about close to MTV Unplugged territory, as song after song on _Surfacing_ reveals acoustic guitars, basses, and pianos. The first single off of _Surfacing_ is also the first of the ten tracks. "Building a Mystery" is a buoyant yet weary tale of a man who can't quite get his life together. Even being one of the more energetic tracks on the disc, "Mystery" still contrains its energy, hardly rising louder than speaking tones. Vying with "Mystery" for speediest rhythm rights is the song "Sweet Surrender", which is probably closer to _Ecstasy_'s style than anything else on _Surfacing_. Building off of a squealing electric guitar loop (that coincidentally sounds a heck of a lot like the new Oasis single, "D'You Know What I Mean"), "Surrender" drives forward with a toe-tapping tempo. "Black & White" has a dry hip-hop drum line under it, but the rest of the track is mainly synth swells and random electric guitar pops. "Adia" is an apologetic ballad that has a Beatle-esque sound to it. "Adia" is a prime example of the jump McLachlan has made from _Ecstasy_ to _Surfacing_, shoving the melody and instrumentation right into the listener's face. Similarly, on "Angel" McLachlan sings accompanied only by her piano and Barenaked Ladies' Jim Creeggan on upright bass. "Angel", partly inspired by the heroin inflicted death of Smashing Pumpkins' keyboardist Jonathan Melvoin, speaks from the point of view of an addict needing relief. Other songs worth noting are "I Love You", a beautiful torch song about her devotion for somebody, possibly her newlywed husband, her drummer Ashwin Sood. "Full of Grace" starts off like an animated Disney theme before being overrun by harmonies and bongo drums. The final track, "Last Dance", is an instrumental waltz that features a saw carrying the melody. _Surfacing_ also contains an enhanced CD portion that provides a multimedia overview of McLachlan's career. This presentation is by far the best enhanced CD I've ever seen, not only in terms of design simplicity and elegance but also because of its lightning quick speed and smooth play. The videos on the presentation were as sleek as VHS, and they start and stop on a dime (no waiting around for them to load and quit). The only maddening thing about it was that you can't control the video output - it is either on or off, so if you want to rewind a part or fast forward to a clip, you're out of luck. The ECD contains footage of McLachlan laying guitar parts for "Mystery", and it also includes some shots of McLachlan screwing up, which was a pleasant surprise - realizing that she's human also. _Surfacing_ is one of those albums that you enjoy the first time you listen to it, and then find yourself liking more and more as you continue listening to it. Like watching a child grow, watching an artist mature leaves the listener with a pleasant and satisfying taste ringing in your ears. Hopefully McLachlan will continue to satisfy us all for a while. --- REVIEW: Faith No More, _Album Of The Year_ (Warner) - Reto Koradi It looks like arrogance to call a record _Album Of The Year_. Or is it provocation? Confidence? In fact it turns out that it might just be the truth; Faith No More's latest album will at the very least be a strong contender for the title. After exploring various styles and possibilities with the excellent 1995 release _King For A Day, Fool For A Lifetime_, this new album shows Faith No More in more focused shape, concentrating and improving on their strong points. One of them is their ability to mix melodic tunes with their usually hard sound, showcased in the ultimate power rock ballad "Ashes To Ashes". Equally impressive is how they manage to produce loud and aggressive tracks without ever making them sound like senseless noise. Even tough tracks like "Collision" and "Got That Feeling" have interesting sound textures that make them appealing also to listeners who would normally prefer a softer style. This can partly be attributed to producer Roli Mosimann, who achieved the same with the Young Gods 12 years ago. Also worth noting is the excellent sound; unlike many other rock albums, this is a pleasure to be listened to on a good stereo, with the volume turned up. _Album Of The Year_ confirms Faith No More as one of the essential rock bands of this decade, it is a must for any fan of the genre. And for those who are normally not that much into hard sound, but like to pick out the pearls of each style, it is an excellent investment. --- REVIEW: Neil Young, _Year Of The Horse_ (Reprise) - Tim Kennedy There may be some people who ask why there is a need for Neil Young to bring out another live album. He's certainly done some excellent such records in the past - _Live Rust_ was a classic, reconciling Woodstock with the punk era back in the late 70's. Ten years on _Weld_ was an astounding sonic tour de force, though it had several songs which had appeared over a decade earlier on _Live Rust_. This album showed most young grunge bands up for the part-time punks they were. This set is two CDs of music, but comparatively few songs - the tracks are instead extremely lengthy, and occasionally tortuously so. The soloing continues for long after the song has resolved itself, and the result is a jam session. If you are the kind of person who assiduously collects Neil/Horse bootlegs, then this will be perfect for you. The less-than- slavish admirer may wonder to themselves why a new set of songs was not a more appropriate release. Many Young fanatics might have hoped for a live set from the legendary Booker T/MGs tour of a few years back. It isn't that Neil has run out of ideas - his last couple of albums have been great ones - but it is hard to discern what is behind this latest release from a man more inscrutable than any rock figure of his generation. Neil doesn't so much bestride the rock world like a colossus as stalk it. At any rate this is a more interesting proposition than a live album from any other artist... --- REVIEW: Primus, _Brown Album_ (Interscope) - Simon Speichert This album sucks. Not in the normal way, however, but in the Primus way, which is good. This might be confusing, but, hey, that's Primus. This album sucks because it's quite different from previous Primus albums, and I'll tell you why. Bassist/vocalist Les Claypool's lyrics have always been wacked out, with songs about strange characters like Tommy the Cat, Sathington Willoughby and Wynona and the big brown beaver. With the _Brown Album_, there is no sign of those surreal characters going away, with tales about Arnie, Renegade, and the afore-mentioned Sathington Willoughby. But the lyrics are not the only selling point of Primus. Their music is definitely what sets Primus apart from the mainstream, and, in fact, from themselves. The _Brown Album_ changes Primus' sound somewhat radically, with warm analog-sounding instruments. The music is also sounding a little more wacked out than usual. I mean, I love Primus, but on some songs, it's pretty much one riff repeated over and over, and, to be honest, that doesn't do it for me. Many of the songs sound like they should have been on Les' solo album (actually, some do sound like songs off Claypool's solo album). I myself would like to see a return to classic Primus, with notable song parts and rhythm guitar, like "Tommy the Cat" or "John the Fisherman". Not that this album is all bad, though. It has a few tracks that might actually beat out the popularity of "Wynona's Big Brown Beaver", the hit from the last album. Those tracks are the first single, "Shake Hands With Beef", "Golden Boy", "Bob's Party Time Lounge", and the speed-metallish "Coddingtown". A special note for all you vinyl freaks: the _Brown Album_ is being released in limited quantities on double vinyl, to preserve the record's all-analog sound. So, for fans like me, who love classic Primus, this album is awkward to listen to at first, but Les, Ler and new drummer Brain have chalked up another fantastic album. It's really brown. --- REVIEW: Brian Howe, _Tangled In Blue_ (Touchwood Records) - Linda Scott Brian Howe, best known as the replacement for Paul Rodgers in supergroup Bad Company, has moved on to a solo career. As lead singer for Bad Company, Howe made a substantial contribution to two of their multiplatinum albums, _Dangerous Age_ and _Holy Water_. _Holy Water_ was released in 1990, and Howe left the band not long after, so it's taken a while to determine his musical direction. Instead of fronting a band, Howe has decided to go it alone. _Tangled In Blue_ is his first solo album, and it's a departure from hard rocking Bad Company. This is a lovely 10-track set of blue-eyed ballads. Putting aside the Bad Company influence, Howe's songs are more like those of Don Henley and Bryan Adams. All songs are co-written by Brian Howe, and for a first venture into this genre, the lyrics are mellow, emotional and ring true without being maudlin. The songs are about emotions, mostly love and its problems. There are sure to be at least a couple here that hit home for each listener. The ones that do tend to be painful; Howe understands the meaning of "good lovin' gone bad". Brian Howe says he wants to move into the adult contemporary arena and stay awhile. To that end he has written "Tangled In Blue" which reflects love's conflicts and pains and sets the tone for the entire album. It's curious that this one is at the middle of the album and not first. Another favorite is "I Remember You", recalling past loves and wondering where they are. With lovely ballads like these, Brian Howe no longer wants to rock you out of the stadium. It seems he wants to ease you into a bedroom - where (honestly) most of the album was recorded. He has the music and the voice. Romantics can use a singer/songwriter like this. --- REVIEW: Paul Carrack, _Blue Views_ (Ark 21) - Jiji Johnson Happily, no matter how seemingly lackluster or trite love songs *can* become, Paul Carrack's subtly soulful vocals - in _Blue Views_ and elsewhere - reveal unfailing honesty, warmth, and a fullness that transcend any less than appealing generic concerns. Paul Carrack may as well be appointed Professor Emeritus for SONGWRITING 101 workshops nationwide. Carrack has written for and worked with Pop notables like The Smiths, Elvis Costello, Madness, Nick Lowe, Roxy Music, Diana Ross (!), ad infinitum. His steady stream of hits in which *his* spotlight shines began with his stint in the band Ace ("How Long" [...Has This Been Going On]), and hit a running stride in his often overlooked fourth solo record _One Good Reason_(Chrysalis), which gained him Top 10 billing. Brilliant popsters Squeeze showcased Carrack's stellar vocals in yet another hit, "Tempted," and Mike & the Mechanics ("The Living Years") added more good stuff to an already monumental body of work. Carrack, back on the beat solo style, keeps the sometimes muddy tempo of _Blue Views_ afloat with clever melodies, his by now renowned brandy liqueur vocals, and an always haunting extended "blue note" tonality and way of weaving progressions that metamorphose nicely into definite "mood music." His revamping of "How Long" only reveals its modernity in slight production value shifts, and it carries with it all the emotionality as it did the first time around. "Love Will Keep Us Alive," his heartbreakingly sweet tome first penned for the Eagles, is written and stuctured so well, it leaves you unaware the band might actually have sung it a mite sweeter. These two more familiar tunes above provide a strong base for the niche Carrack's working on, groove, by groove, to get us into his own original *hits.* On that front, Carrack has a way to go yet, as they give us only all we expect comfortably, but don't seem to *dance* as well as the former two. _Blue Views_ is the lover you've had in your life for as far back as you can remember: the grooves fit, their very presence calms the soul, and you're glad, at least, that you can sit and rest a while...that they'll be here to stay. The rest comes later. --- REVIEW: Barely Pink, _Number One Fan_ (Big Deal) - Scott Slonaker Big Star. The 1970s Cheap Trick. The Knack. Do the following cause you to raise an eyebrow in interest? Yep, Barely Pink's debut full-length album is power-pop all right. From track one, the celebratory "City of Stars", these four Floridians waste no time getting right to the heart of the section of the musical pantheon that marks Alex Chilton, the Trick, and the Fab Four as its deities. (Modern reference points to the band's sound might be Matthew Sweet, the Odds, and, in particular, Super Deluxe.) Barely Pink seems to revel in, rather than avoid, the fact that they are, in essence, a pop band. Singer Brian Merrill's smooth, harmonious voice is the perfect sheen upon the band's jumpy wall of hooks and frequent ooh-ah backing vocals. The band's primary subject matter, is, of course, love, and refreshingly enough, seems to be at least somehat optimistic about the prospects. Songs like "I'm So Electric", "Baby A.M." and "New Sweet Infection" moon relentlessly over the female subject (bringing T. Rex to mind in the process). "Face Down" apologizes for the narrator's curmudgeonly ways, but soon returns to a similar tack. The Big Star cards are laid right on the table with "It's Okay", a chiming and elegant (if slightly treacly) ballad that wouldn't have sounded too out of place next to "September Gurls" on the _Radio City_ album. However, things change up slightly on the second half of _Number One Fan_. The "underwater" vocals of "Big Mistake" are reminiscent of similar trickery seen with _Dear 23_-era Posies. "I Do What My TV Tells Me" definitely draws its inspiration from the teenage mock-paranoia of early Cheap Trick (_Dream Police_, etc.). And the record's closing track, "Let Me Drink in Peace", has a more roadhouse-y, Rolling Stones-ish vibe. In a perfect world, smooth, crisp and fun acts like Barely Pink would be all over Top 40 radio. (Many of these songs would actually be bookended on the airwaves quite nicely by "MMMBop" and "One Headlight".) Fans of the power-pop genre should waste no time in procuring a copy of _Number One Fun_. And while the record's persistent sweetness may cause eventual tooth decay with other listeners, there's no denying the band's talent and songwriting ability. It's nice to see Florida redeeming itself for Marilyn Manson. --- REVIEW: Cujo, _Adventures In Foam_ (Shadow) - Tim Hulsizer Slowly but surely, as electronic music filters into the headphones of America, drum'n'bass and jungle also appear to be making inroads amongst the populace. The genre itself can be broken down still further, from the spaced-out, club-ready beats of LTJ Bukem's crowd, to the more experimental side of things, represented by Plug and Squarepusher, among others. It is this latter group of musicians we are here to discuss today, as the new album by Cujo surely fits somewhere in there. Cujo does things down and dirty, mixing up dark, clinical beats with eerie samples to produce one riveting, powerful album. The basic idea here is jungle, done more in the Squarepusher vain, with staccato rythms and plucked, jazzy basslines. Also along for the ride is some hip hop entertainment, but more on that later. Tunes like "Traffic", "The Light", and "Paris Streatham" are guaranteed to make you sit up and take notice. Cujo is no slouch when it comes to mixing, keeping things interesting by avoiding cliched loops or samples. The samples that are here generally call to mind a feeling that is furthered by the tune itself. In "Fat Ass Joint", our willing and able DJ guide throws in a murky sample of a guy who wishes to smoke the item of the title. Meanwhile, there are a couple of tracks that call to mind alien sightings. One, appropriately titled "The Sighting", has a terrific sample of some redneck saying, "It's a UFO beaming back atcha!" Highly entertaining. Mixed in with the machine gun beats, you also find some nice hip hop numbers. "Cat People" and "Break Charmer", as well as the aforementioned "Sighting", are all breakbeat extravaganzas that could easily be backing up a hip hop artist somewhere. This is in sync with a lot of other Shadow output (see also London Funk Allstars, Funki Porcini, etc. for more instrumental hip hop). Rounding out Cujo's album are a few tracks that break off into other styles entirely. "The Brazilianaire" has a nice shuffle pace to it, while "The Sequal" (sic) is more of a fast jazz tune with a lot of real instrumentation to it. The last cut on the album, "Cruzer", mixes up hip hop and insane electronic fills before sliding into one last bit of jungle defiance. Stay tuned a few minutes more for a "hidden" track, a one-and-a-half minute spacey sort of whale song. All in all, a cool album with plenty to hook you. Definitely worth the money. --- REVIEW: Manbreak, _Come And See_ (Almo) - Bob Gajarsky Five years ago, an English band combined hip hop, rock and rap with socio-political rantings released a wittily titled debut album, _Lenin & McCarthy_. The 25th of May, fronted by the charismatic Steve Swindelli, unfortunately didn't make much of an impact on the music scene, but their legacy still makes an occasional appearance in my disc player. Fast forward to 1997, and Swindelli (with no first name) has returned as the leader of Manbreak. The group's name comes from a secret military program of the 1950s and 1960s where the British government exposed some of its soldiers to low-level chemical weapons, and then let them loose on an assault course to test their performance. And, just like with his previous band, Swindelli offers a few musical assaults of his own. The leadoff track, "Ready Or Not", offers a good cross-section of what Manbreak is all about. Searing guitars (taken from the book of Jimmy Page) combine with Swindelli's passionate vocals, as he asks the listener what they want out of life. Those who mourn music without meaning need look no further than this disc. "Kop Karma" is, according to Swindelli, 'How our taxes pay for us to get beaten up by the police - Rodney King will testify to that.' "Cut Ups" was inspired by a story in the Socialist Worker (note the political slant?) of a policeman, who attemps to talk a woman out of committing suicide from a high ledge, joining her on a jump to death. Rather than advocating violence (as he's previously done), Swindelli implores the listener to look inside themselves to seek the answers. Sure, pop sounds creep into Swindelli's work; witness the Lennon-esque ballad "God's Never Heard of You" or "Future Days", whose musical chorus owes a debt to "Paperback Writer" - turned up to 7 on the stereo. "News Of The World" keeps up a frantic pace while delivering the necessary hooks, and "City Life" is Genesis' "Turn It On Again" if Mike Rutherford could ever turn *his* guitar up. But more than anything, Manbreak's _Come And See_ provides a cross-section of the last 20 years of rock, rap and politics. --- NEWS: > Cause and Effect's latest release, _Innermost Station_, is due to be independently released on August 26. Originally scheduled as a 6 song EP, it has been extended to a full length, 9 track album. > Three fourths of the original Jane's Addiction - Perry Farrell, Stephen Perkins, and David Navarro - are reforming, along with Flea, to tour later this year. An as yet untitled CD will be released in October comprised of live tracks from Jane's 1989-1990 tour, live tracks from Lollapalooza 1991, previous unreleased studio tracks, demos, and at least one new song - "Kettle Whistle". > Megadeth will be hosting an online chat at 6:30 EST on July 24 at their web site, located at http://hollywoodandvine.com/megadeth --- TOUR DATES (Please confirm with site before travelling): Baboon Jul. 25 Little Rock, AR Vino's Jul. 26 Denton, TX Rick' s Place Backsliders Jul. 24 Lubbock, TX Stubb's BBQ Jul. 25 Dallas, TX Sons of Hermann Hall Jul. 26 Austin, TX Continental Club Jul. 30 New Orleans, LA House of Blues Jul. 31 Jackson, MI W.C. Don's Boston Jul. 24 Bristow, VA Nissan Pavillion Jul. 25 Virginia Beach, VA Va. Beach Amp. Jul. 26 Raleigh, NC Walnut Creek Jul. 27 Charlotte, NC Blockbuster Pavillion Jul. 29 Atlanta, GA Chastain Park Brad / Verbow Jul. 24 Houston, TX Numbers Jul. 26 Phoenix, AZ Gibson's Jul. 28 Los Angeles, CA Troubadour Jul. 29 San Francisco, CA Slim's The Clarks Jul. 27 Dunbar, PA Fayette County Fair Jul. 31 Middlesex, PA JW's Other Place Cravin' Melon Jul. 31 Clemson SC Tiger Town Tavern Aug. 1 Charlotte, NC Amos' Furthur Festival (incl. Black Crowes and many more) Jul. 25 Minneapolis, MN River's Edge Jul. 27 Denver, CO Fiddler's Green Jul. 29 Park City, UT Wolf Mountain Jul. 31 Portland, OR Portland Meadows G3 (Joe Satriani / Steve Vai / Kenny Wayne Shepherd) Jul. 25 Vancouver, BC Plaza of Nations Jul. 26 George, WA Gorge Amphitheatre Jul. 27 Portland, OR River Queen Jul. 29 Las Vegas, NV Joint Jul. 30 Phoenix, AZ Desert Sky Pavillion Government Mule / Sweet Vine Jul. 24 Atlanta, GA Roxy Theater Jul. 25 Birmingham, ALA Five Points South Jul. 26 Charlotte, NC World Mardi Gras Jul. 29 Charlottesville, VA Trax Jul. 30 Baltimore, MD 8X10 Jul. 31 Washington, DC Bayou Guttermouth Jul. 25 Brisbane, AU Crash & Burn Jul. 26 Byron Bay, AU Great Northern Jul. 27 Newcastle, AU Bar on the Bill Irving Plaza (New York concert hall; http://www.irvingplaza.com) Jul. 24 Brian Setzer Orchestra Lollapalooza (Tool/Prodigy/Korn/many more) Jul. 25 Chicago, IL World Amp. Jul. 26 Grand Rapids, MI Val Du Lakes Jul. 27 East Troy, WI Alpine Valley Jul. 29 Kansas City, KS Sandstone Jul. 30 St. Louis, MO Riverport Jul. 31 Nashville, TN Starwood Lunachicks Jul. 25 Hoboken, NJ Maxwell's Jul. 26 Philadelphia, PA Pontiac Grill Megadeth Jul. 24-25 Las Vegas, NV The Joint Jul. 26 San Francisco, CA Warfield Jul. 28 Portland, OR Armory Jul. 29 Seattle, WA Mercer Arena Jul. 31 Salt Lake City, UT Salt Air Moxy Fruvous Jul. 25 Syracuse, NY Styleen's Jul. 26-27 Hillsdale, NY Falcon Ridge Folk Festival Jul. 29 Pontiac, MI Seventh House Jul. 30 Chicago, IL House of Blues Jul. 31 Indianapolis, IN Second Story Radiohead Jul. 26 Los Angeles, CA Wiltern Jul. 27 San Francisco, CA Warfield Rye Coalition July 29 Pittsburgh, PA Oakland St House July 30 Pocono, PA Knight Of Columbus Hall Sister Hazel / Cowboy Mouth Jul. 24 Richmond, VA Flood Zone Jul. 26 Washington, DC 9:30 Club (evening) Jul. 27 Wilmington, NC The Forum Jul. 29 Myrtle Beach, SC House of Blues Jul. 30 Chapel Hill, NC Cats Cradle Jul. 31 Winston Salem, NC Ziggy's Size 14 Jul. 24 Philadelphia, PA Pontiac Bar And Grill Jul. 26 Washington, DC East of Maui Skate Park Jul. 27 Washington, DC Black Cat Jul. 31 Charlotte, NC Tremont Music Hall Supergrass Jul. 24 San Francisco, CA Fillmore Jul. 25 Los Angeles, CA Palace (w/Dandy Warhols) Jul. 27 Detroit, MI Mill St. Jul. 28 Toronto, ON PM Jul. 29 New York, NY Supper Club Jul. 30 Providence, RI Lupo's Supertramp Jul. 25 Ottawa, ON Correl Center Jul. 26 Toronto, ON Molson Amphitheatre Jul. 29 Clarkston, MI Pine Knob Jul. 30 St. Louis, MO Riverport Amp. Jul. 31 Milwaukee, WI Marcus Amp. Vallejo Jul. 26 Sacramento, CA KRXQ Festival Verve Pipe / Tonic / K's Choice Jul. 24 Denver, CO Ogden Theatre Jul. 27 Kansas City, MO Beaumont Club Jul. 28 Davenport, IA Col Ballroom Jul. 29 St. Louis, MO American Theatre Warped Tour Dates (Reel Big Fish, Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Social Distortion, Sick Of It All, Less Than Jake, many more) Jul. 24 Pittsburgh, PA Ic Light Amphitheatre Jul. 25 New York, NY Randall's Island Jul. 26 Asbury Park, NJ Atlantic Park Jul. 27 Washington, DC Rfk Stadium Jul. 29 Northampton, MA Three County Fairgrounds Jul. 30 Philadelphia, PA Corestates Center World Party Jul. 25 Atlanta, GA Roxy Jul. 26 Nashville, TN 328 Performance Hall Jul. 28 Vancouver, BC EMD Convention Young Dubliners Jul. 25 Redlands, CA Pharaoh's Lost Kindom Water Park Jul. 26 Hollywood, CA House of Blues --- Founded in August, 1993, Consumable Online is the oldest continuous collaborative music publication on the Internet. To get back issues of Consumable, check out: WWW: http://www.westnet.com/consumable FTP: ftp.quuxuum.org in the directory /pub/consumable ftp.prouser.org (URL) http://www.westnet.com/consumable/Consumable.html (Delphi) Music Fandom forum; GO ENT MUSIC To subscribe to Consumable, send an e-mail message to consumable-request@westnet.com with the body of the message stating "subscribe consumable". To unsubscribe, send a message to the same address stating "unsubscribe consumable". Web access contributed by WestNet Internet Services (westnet.com), serving Westchester County, NY. Address any written correspondence to Bob Gajarsky, Consumable Online, 409 Washington St. #294, Hoboken, New Jersey 07030 ===