== ISSUE 195 ==== CONSUMABLE ONLINE ======== [December 9, 1999] Editor: Bob Gajarsky E-mail: editor@consumableonline.com Managing Editor: Lang Whitaker Sr. Correspondents: Daniel Aloi, Joann Ball, Bill Holmes, Tim Kennedy, Al Muzer, Joe Silva Correspondents: Michelle Aguilar, Christina Apeles, Niles J. Baranowski, Mike Bederka, Jason Cahill, Matthew Carlin, Patrick Carmosino, John Davidson, Andrew Duncan, Krisjanis Gale, Paul Hanson, Chris Hill, Eric Hsu, Scott Hudson, Steve Kandell, Reto Koradi, Robin Lapid, Wes Long, I.K. MacLeod, Wilson Neate, Mike Pfeiffer, 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 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 | `------------' REVIEW: Fiona Apple, _When the Pawn..._ - John Davidson REVIEW: Marilyn Manson, _The Last Tour on Earth_- Michelle Aguilar CONCERT REVIEW: Everything But The Girl - Wilson Neate REVIEW: Tonic, _Sugar_ - Paul Hanson REVIEW: Tori Amos, _To Venus and Back_ - Chelsea Spear REVIEW: Chris Cornell, _Euphoria Morning_ - Scott Hudson REVIEW: Various Artists, _Violator: The Album_ - Michelle Aguilar REVIEW: Paula Cole, _Amen_ - Michael Van Gorden REVIEW: Whitlams, _Love This City_ - Chris Hill COMPILATION REVIEWS: Friends Again, Totally Hits, Game Time - Bob Gajarsky REVIEW: The Faces, _Good Boys...When They're Asleep_ - Bill Holmes REVIEW: The Get Up Kids, _Something to Write Home About_ - Kerwin So NEWS: Jimmy and Doug's Farm Club, Supersphere.com TOUR DATES: John Digiweed, Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, Ben Harper, Jayhawks, Mike Ness, Michael Penn / Aimee Mann, Rage Against The Machine / Gang Starr Back Issues of Consumable --- REVIEW: Fiona Apple, _When the Pawn..._ (Epic) - John Davidson Young, precocious, and potent, Fiona Apple made a big splash in the market a few years back with her debut album, _Tidal_. Whether sliding through the pubescent rage door that Alanis opened or the channeling raw wounds a la Tori Amos, her distinctly smoky voice and wavering rhythms parlayed a sound beyond her years. The goofiness of fame ensued, focusing on her behavior (that rattled speech on a televised awards show, her dwindling figure, her Lolita-inspired videos, etc.) and more often than not, gave her talent short thrift. Another just dessert for the insatiable appetite of stardom? Now older and a little less bolder on her follow up to _Tidal_, _When the Pawn..._ proves to be a strong move of growth in her songwriting. Thematically, she's moved beyond the fragile trappings of adolescent pain in order to confront her place in the world. "All my life is on me now," she sings on the first track ("On the Bound"), "hail the pages turning." Her bleeding heart seems more focused, and much of the album speaks of the love in her life that has come and gone since. Yet, while her confessional style is at once better than anything on _Tidal_, the words still lag; few lyrics are an even match for her formidable vocal talent. It is, of course, Apple's voice that separates her from her peers. Some of the most popular vocalists of the past ten years have made a career out of an unlimited range or the ability to break glass with a high note, yet it's Apple's lack of range that puts the focus on her bloozy, sexy delivery. She dips, she crawls, she pouts, she lets her husky tone and swooning turns of phrase to carry her message. This isn't a singer who has to over-emote, and it's a vivid reminder that talent can become popular if allowed to stand solo. From the wobbling kilter of "To Your Love" to the delicate lullaby of "I Know," Apple's command of her vocal instrument has clearly become more assured with experience, and her jazzy instinct on the keyboard has improved, too. Finally, there's that title. Sure, it's pretty flaccid and surely, it's even a little indulgent. Yet with everyone (including the record label) truncating that albatross, her quest of self-reliance and redemption ("When you go solo, you hold your own hand") may be falling more than a few deaf ears. But that's okay. She's maturing and doing things her own way. _When the Pawn..._ ultimately shows the portrait of an artist as a maturing young woman. A surprising and rewarding sophomore album. --- REVIEW: Marilyn Manson, _The Last Tour on Earth_ (Interscope) - Michelle Aguilar Ok, I'll admit that I came pretty late to the Marilyn Manson dope show. Old fart that I am, I went for months in 1996 seeing these 14-year-olds hanging around my little, overpriced, super-intellectual Massachusetts college town. They'd be loitering outside my favorite music store or outside Starbucks, with their hair dyed raven black or bright red, wearing chain-link wallets on their baggy camoflage pants and their black tee-shirts that spelled out "Marilyn Manson" in fonts that reminded me, old fart that I am, of Misfits tee-shirts. "Who the heck is this Marilyn Manson guy anyway?" I'd ask myself. Just when I thought I'd finally figured it out - repetitive, Trent Reznor-influenced industrial death metal; a sort of O-Negative lite; a Christian Death with a slightly better sense of humor - 1998's _Mechanical Animals_ proved me and others wrong. Suddenly everybody started talking about Manson in the same breath with Bowie and Ozzy and Alice. And now we have this new album, "The Last Tour on Earth." This collection of live performances from Manson's Midwestern tour in 1998 and 1999, builds on the promises hinted at in _Mechanical Animals_, stripping away even more of Reznor's formidable wall of industrial metal guitars that made 1996's _Antichrist Superstar_ sound like the band was drowning in a pool of its own soulless sludge. Instead, the band live opts for even more Bowie-esque glam, with snarly but sexy guitar riffs that would make Mick Ronson's day. This new sound lends an unexpected exuberance to a live album supposedly full of jaded, neo-Satan metal anthems. If there's one thing those '70s glam boys knew, it was that bigger is better. Many of the songs _The Last Tour on Earth_ subscribe to that philosophy. "Rock is Dead" and "Irresponsible Hate Anthem," the way they're played here, with trebly distorted guitars that at times sound almost like horns, evoke the grandiose guitar riffs of a modern-day Black Sabbath. "The Last Day on Earth," which relies on sad acoustic guitar and lonely electric piano, recalls David Bowie's more epic moments on "Hunky Dory," when he would make his songs sound like he was singing from the tundras of Antarctica. The melodic melodramas of glam are here too, in the jaded, wormhole-inside-the-glory-of-success delivery of Manson hits like "The Dope Show" and "I Don't Like The Drugs (But the Drugs Like Me)." These songs get slow, anthemic treatments that sound both huge and sparse at the same time. Even the originally very muddled hit, "Sweet Dreams" has this odd contradiction of sound that surprisingly recalls Bauhaus. In fact, there are a number of songs in the Manson set that live, sound a rather bit like live Bauhaus, with Manson at times even copping Peter Murphy's trademark short gasping/screaming vocal style that, bless his red-velvet-lined heart, always sounded like a giant bird being strangled ten seconds at a time. "Inauguration of the Mechanical Christ" and "The Last Day on Earth" have moments that sound like musical variations on Bauhaus' "Kick in the Eye." And while we on the topic of Brit-punk, the wanly performed "I Don't Like the Drugs (But the Drugs Like Me)" wavers between Alice Cooper and the Gang of Four, leaning a lot more towards Gang of Four than I would have ever expected from a band that started out in the death-metal cd bins. The typical Manson trademark theatrics are still here - cop-baiting, drug-extolling, fan-bashing and cartoonish cynicism - which have made him the latest gadfly for The Good People of America, the parents of all those pasty-faced, black-garbed children hanging outside my Starbucks. They love Manson, as you can plainly hear in the background throughout. You can almost hear how young they must be, how excited they are at the sense of being inside something momentous, something dangerous, even if what they're participating in is in reality a pre-packaged light and magic show; a fact that of course, Manson himself would be the first to tell you. But the songs are strong, tight, and somehow bigger than many of the studio versions. I have to admit that for the first time, I was tempted to want to see a Marilyn Manson concert. Perhaps this is because the live recordings somehow manage to communicate the excitement, the sheer spectacle surrounding a Manson show, despite the fact that the tracks are disjointed and clearly not from a single, continuous performance. The spectacle does have an occasional downside, however. Sometimes the theatrics are too much, with Manson spending a lot of time in his song introductions inveighing about incidents in specific cities with "the pigs" and fundamentalist religious types about which we can only speculate. Still, as someone who was initially fooled (and not all that impressed) with the industrial-metal stylings of _Smells Like Children_ and _Antichrist Superstar_, I was pleasantly surprised by _The Last Tour on Earth_. This live album accomplishes a rare feat - preserving the basic integrity of original studio recordings, while at the same time giving them a sense of momentum, urgency and excitement that so many live albums fail to communicate. Given that many tour albums are so often just pale, poorly realized versions of the lusher studio album the artist was out pimping, it is refreshing to hear a live recording with attitude, with performances that set out to make me a believer. --- CONCERT REVIEW: Everything But The Girl; New York City - Wilson Neate A couple of months ago, during an inexcusable moment of weakness, I found myself watching a characteristically vapid and pointless VH-1 program whose storyline was something highly substantive like "bands who were big for about a second and then vanished completely." Alongside such foundational pop luminaries as Wang Chung, A Flock of Seagulls, Talk Talk, Modern English and Naked Eyes (who?), much to my consternation, Everything But The Girl were treated to their own segment. Fans of EBTG who were unfortunate enough to see this program were no doubt delighted to learn that, according to VH-1's narrative, Ben Watt and Tracey Thorn essentially came out of nowhere in 1994, had a fluke hit with a ditty called "Missing" and "are still recording music." Hmm, I was under the impression that --- in addition to their own work before EBTG --- Ben Watt and Tracey Thorn had released six full studio albums together prior to the release of "Missing," and, since then, have continued to enjoy popular and critical acclaim globally. I must have imagined all of that. Still, while EBTG's illustrious peers, A Flock of Seagulls (at least in the alternate reality of VH-1), would be hard-pressed to fill a paper bag with what remains of their once trademark hairstyles, I am pleased to report that EBTG not only filled the Hammerstein Ballroom last night, they sold it out. Quite an achievement for an alleged one-hit-wonder act. As the official Everything But The Girl website ( http://www.ebtg.com ) informs us, this was to be the last concert of the century for Ben Watt and Tracey Thorn. It was also their only US appearance in support of the recent release of the predictably near-perfect _Temperamental_, which has to be an 11th hour contender for album of the year. EBTG had the right idea last night, dispensing with that tired convention known as the opening act - which, 90% of the time, is a bad idea as much for the audience which has to wait its way through it as it is for the band that has to play for an unreceptive crowd. Mercifully, EBTG opted to entrust the warm-up responsibilities to a low-key, onstage DJ who enabled us to go about our regular, pre-show business of drinking and chatting with minimum distraction. Maybe to check if anyone was listening, though, in the midst of his spinning activities, he broke the unwritten rule and actually played an EBTG track ("Five Fathoms"). In this case, however, it was a calculated, smart move that was met with general approval and just turned the level of expectancy and excitement up another notch. Accompanied by a bass player and drummer who enhanced the programmed beats, EBTG kicked off the show with "Before Today" and went on to deliver a slick, hour-and-a-half-long set of material drawn primarily from _Walking Wounded_ and _Temperamental_. While in musical terms it's been a long and diverse journey from Hull University in 1982 to New York's Hammerstein Ballroom in 1999, the most recent stages of that trek have been particularly exciting for Everything But The Girl and their fans. And the experience of them live really underscores the quite remarkable way in which Watt and Thorn have reinvented themselves, especially over the last five years. Indeed, their career seems to have gone against the grain of the rock and roll narrative; while bands these days usually make a huge initial impact, enjoy a short-lived period in which they coincide perfectly with the current trends and then descend into anonymity or irrelevance, EBTG have gone from strength to strength and have remained totally relevant. The pivotal moment in their career came with "Missing" - especially the Todd Terry remix thereof - a track that seemed almost like an afterthought, albeit a brilliant one, to the hitherto standard jazz/folk tinged pop fare on 1994's _Amplified Heart_. While "Missing" gave a clue as to the direction they were taking, few people could have imagined that EBTG would emerge as the leading exponents of such classy, dance-oriented pop music as they have of late - first with 1996's predominantly drum and bass-influenced _Walking Wounded_ and this year with the more house-derived _Temperamental_. In this latest stage of their career, Ben Watt has pretty much yielded the vocals to Tracey Thorn and has channeled his considerable talents as a musician, DJ and producer into crafting their strikingly original new sound. And on their last two records - as they proved last night - they've achieved a perfectly balanced form, harmoniously combining the strength and clarity of Thorn's evocative vocals with a danceable, compelling musical texture, in ironic contrast perhaps to the disharmony that their lyrics continue to foreground. Their songs relentlessly work through highly personalized accounts of regret, loss, and general unhappiness in and out of love - quite a remarkable artistic feat in itself, given the reality of their own enduring long-term relationship. Lyrical content aside, though, what you hear in EBTG's songs is the melody of Tracey Thorn's voice, foregrounded and perfectly complimented by the unobtrusive yet distinctive collage of sounds created by Watt. And in terms of that melody, Thorn consistently manages to somehow project a beautifully ambivalent quality that is at once detached and intimate, strong and fragile, disinterested and emotive. That ambiguous nature of Thorn's voice epitomizes the creative tension that makes their music so distinctive. EBTG's sound contrasts starkly with much of the currently popular techno/DJ based fodder. A great deal of the latter is characterized by repetition, by a tendency to trade in a single affect and by a penchant for clinical, sampled textures that often jar with each other and that are often stripped of any of their original meaning, used only toward some simplistic, functional end. By contrast, Watt and Thorn build a subtle, seamless musical and vocal whole and pull off a stunning marriage of the impersonality of the sample/electronic dance beat and a uniquely identifiable, expressive sound that has always been the essence of EBTG. As last night's show emphasized, their achievement is a synthesis of opposites. They build their tracks as a hybridization of the anonymous house/breakbeat sound and the highly personal, inscribing within the framework of the former a range and depth of feeling and mood largely absent from much electronic music, which seems focused only on a superficial, party-oriented euphoria. Last night, that craft was exemplified by EBTG's performance of the track "Single," a song dominated by a slow techno drum beat but shot through with feeling. With sleight of hand, Ben Watt not only manages to sample Tim Buckley's 1970 classic "Song To The Siren" - quite an accomplishment in itself - but he also makes "Single" hinge around this minimal, almost unnoticable hook. That sample isn't just a technical effect that sounds good or serves some novelty purpose. Rather, EBTG use it as a beautifully simple, intertextual homage to Buckley that simultaneously provides them with the emotive material with which to construct their song. While Buckley's masterpiece of longing and loneliness is pared down to that fragile sample, both musically and vocally, "Single" draws out and articulates the affective quality of the original. Not surprisingly, "Missing" drew the biggest reaction and provided a rare moment of interaction (apart from a couple of "thank you"s) as Tracey Thorn yielded the vocals to the crowd on the chorus. But then, everything was well-received last night, especially "Walking Wounded," "Wrong," and the new songs "Five Fathoms," "Blame," "Hatfield 1980," "Temperamental" and "The Future of the Future." For an encore, they treated us to a version of "Protection." While 3D has claimed some degree of credit for the rebirth of EBTG, owing to Thorn's work with Massive Attack, it remains that Thorn wrote the lyrics and it really is her vocals that make the song. Despite their lack of verbal interaction with the crowd, they clearly enjoyed themselves, something that was confirmed the next day as their website's top five list of "What Rocks Today!" was updated to include The Hammerstein Ballroom. --- REVIEW: Tonic, _Sugar_ (Universal) - Paul Hanson Following up a smash debut can't be easy. You have lots of time to write, and rewrite, the songs that end up on the debut, but in the music industry today, long periods of inactivity allow trends and the flavor of the month to change. Look at Def Leppard, Scorpions, and Motley Crue, all bands that have either changed their style to catch up or resorted to rehashing their old songs and releasing them in altered formats, like a live album. Tonic's _Lemon Parade_ caught me by surprise. I wasn't expecting to like it, but I always found it an above-decent album. It's been a while since I listened to it, but I still have a soft spot for its single "If You Could Only See." The song has personal meaning to me because I think of the song being sung from a friend of mine's perspective, talking about his 'better half.' So now, faced with following up a commercially successful debut, what's a band to do? Tonic's answer is to write strong songs, write them well, and give the fans that were devoted to their 1st album additional songs to cherish. There are multiple gems here, starting with opener "Future Says Run" which is followed by the _American Pie_ soundtrack anthem "You Wanted More." "Mean to Me" ventures near "If You Could Only See" territory with the lyrics, "There's an empty place inside that is hurting/ Place that keeps my heart . . ./ Why do you have to drag me down to make me see." And like the lyrics, the music here is sharp. There's not a virtuoso in the band, no "Guitar Player of the Year" candidate, but I don't hear Tonic as a band that's concerned with winning awards. Instead, they want to write good songs. And on _Sugar_ they have. --- REVIEW: Tori Amos, _To Venus and Back_ (Atlantic) - Chelsea Spear The press kit that accompanies Tori Amos's latest creative venture comes complete with a pile of clippings about a quarter of an inch thick that detail the singer's recent relationship with MP3.com on her recent tour with Alanis Morrisette. After listening to _To Venus and Back_, this partnership should come as no surprise. __TV&B__ further chronicles Amos's search for the ghost in the machine. Her last album, 1998's _from the choirgirl hotel_, found the singer exploring electronic textures and wedding techno non-structure to her take on classic songwriting, bringing a heart and a soul to this kind of music not often found elsewhere. On _TV&B_, Amos occasionally leaves her piano aside to write songs that seem exclusively written on electronic instruments, such as the piquant, trebly "Datura" and the haunting "Juarez," which dopplers to a beat that sounds like wind moving over the desert. In other places, such as the noirish opening track "Bliss," she brings her piano to a place where a heartbeat sounds like an electronic drum. The overall effect suggests an album recorded by the Lady in the Radiator from the movie _Eraserhead_, as produced by Tom Waits circa _Bone Machine_. Of course, unlike the Lady in the Radiator (often interpreted by Lynch scholars as the voice of suicide), Tori can come off like an agent of hope, or at least a desire to understand. The lyrics on this album deal with women and their relationships with those around them - "Bliss" suggests someone trying to extract herself from a stifling parental relationship, "Juarez" deals with a heinous rape/murder in Mexico, and the rapturous, decadent snare drum and tinkly melodies of "Josephine" suggests Jeanette Winterson, a reinvention of the Napoleonic War from the General's girlfriend. With Tori, though, it's best to leave lyrical interpretations to the intuitive mind; after all, logic might balk at lines such as the opening gambit, "Father I killed my monkey." The second disc in this set features Amos's first official live album. While one live set will do little to stop up the seemingly endless flow of bootlegs the chanteuse's fans demand, it serves its purpose to portray the intensity, beauty, and wry humour of Amos's live shows. Hearing her live performance in such a well-produced, high-quality context is a revelation in and of itself, and the set list both reflects crowd favourites (such as a new version of "Cornflake Girl," with a bluesy introduction) and rare beauties like "Cooling" and "Purple People." Fans of Amos will doubtlessly already own this, but new converts and the curious would do well to check this out, if only for the considerable joys of this unusual and delightful live set. --- REVIEW: Chris Cornell, _Euphoria Morning_ (A&M) - Scott Hudson As former Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell steps up to the plate to release his debut solo effort, _Euphoria Morning_, no doubt he will have his share of detractors. Perhaps the biggest will be those diehard Soundgarden fans who feel that, by leaving the band, he sold out his bandmates and his loyal fans. The inescapable fact is that Chris Cornell was Soundgarden. He was both the voice and the vision. In order to expand his musical horizons he needed to blaze his own trail, in his own way and on his own terms. With _Euphoria Morning_, Cornell moves away from the grunge/metal trappings that typified Soundgarden and into the arena of the emotional and experimental. Eleven alums Alain Johannes (guitar and backing vocals) and Natasha Shneider (keyboards and backing vocals) were beckoned by Cornell not only to play, but to co-write and co-produce the record as well. Together, they weave a tapestry of tones and textures that provide a brilliant backdrop for Cornell's often introspective lyrics while showcasing his laryngellic virtuosity. The hooky "Can't Change Me" combines an Eastern influence, prevalent in mid-period Beatles music, with a classic Lennonesque, monotone counter-harmony. "Flutter Girl" has a "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" groove that anchors Johannes' outstanding "bumble-bee" guitar vibrato. "Preaching The End of The World" finds Cornell singing the verses in a David Gates (Bread) falsetto against an acoustic guitar backdrop. But once the chorus kicks in, all similarities to Bread come to a screeching halt; Gates would be spitting up pieces of lung in an attempt to reach the notes Cornell effortlessly nails. "Wave Goodbye" is a tribute to the late singer-songwriter Jeff Buckley that feature tender, gut-wrenching lyrics amidst a funky "wah-wah" guitar groove. The title track, "Sweet Euphoria," is a powerful solo effort featuring just Cornell and his acoustic guitar lamenting a lost love. "When I'm Down" is smoky lounge-room R&B number that wreaks of Ray Charles, accompanied by Natasha Shneider's outstanding jazzy/blues piano chops. Also noteworthy are great tracks like "Follow My Way," "Disappearing One," "Moonchild," and the acoustic flourishes of "Pillow of Your Bones," which are reminicent of Radiohead's "Paranoid Android." In _Euphoria Morning_, you have one of best releases of the year, bar none. It is work that bears more of a resemblence to the Temple of the Dog project than anything Soundgarden ever did. In Chris Cornell, you have one of rock's greatest voices creating musical magic in his own way and on his own terms. --- REVIEW: Various Artists, _Violator: The Album_ (Violator) - Michelle Aguilar Where is rap going into the 21st century? After rising like a slow moving but powerful rocket into the mainstream after all these years, is rap now on the decline? Is it an art finally hitting the wall, lacking in new direction? Is it bereft, depleted of fresh ideas, with nowhere left to go except into decontextualized Puff Daddy-esque grandiosity or appropriation by alternative rock? Rap entertainment mogul Chris Lighty, who owns Violator Records, Violator Management and also produces the occasional rap record for LL Cool J and others, doesn't think so. He points to beat innovators and breakthrough artists like Busta Rhymes and the Flipmode Squad, Noreaga and Q-Tip (from the defunct A Tribe Called Quest) as evidence that rap is still evolving and changing as an art form. Not coincidentally, all these artists, who have exploded in popularity in the past three years or so, have Lighty in common and have partnerships with either Violator Records or Violator Management. It is this link that provides the common denominator behind this Violator Records compilation, _Violator: The Album_. This album, which debuted in August at the number one spot on Billboard's R&B charts and was also the highest debuting album on the Billboard Top 200 pop charts that week, is a gem you might have missed if you're only an occasional rap fan. But it's full of enough gems from that it's worth your while to seek this disc out, maybe as a holiday present to your own bad self. Yo' bad self is the lyrical substance of many of these songs, with lots of references to gangbanging, clubbing and busting caps on those who ain't fast enough, smooth enough, smart enough, or just man enough to survive. In fact, I tried at one point to count just how many times the word "bitch" made it onto this album (and believe me, it made it on there a lot), but I got bored counting about sixty. Which is why Q-Tip's, "Vivrant Thing," (which opens the album and was the album's premier single) is a refreshing opener. A lusty paean to the irresistible beauty of a confident woman who knows what she wants from life and her man and is too mature to play head games. Appropriately, the backing track is a tasty disco guitar sample of "I Wanna Stay," by Barry White, who knew better than anyone the alluring power of a sexy, strong woman. When the words, "Such a vivrant thing," roll off his tongue, there's something so sultry in it, so appealing in the way dances off the beat, you're inclined to forgive any minor shortcomings. Followed immediately by an enchantingly unexpected sample of the Broadway musical "Oliver" by the Flipmode Squad, "Whatcha Come Around Here For," is mostly straight up gangsta posturing, with the unmistakable jester-like vocals of Busta Rhymes and trade-offs by the rest of the Squad floating over the whole thing. But the combination of great samples and bursting enthusiasm of the rapping is so much fun, the song is always over far too early and you don't care that the Broadway sample repeated non-stop throughout is basically a one-trick pony. It's too damn fun. Noreaga and Scarlet join forces on track three for a he-said, she-said take on the seminal N.W.A. hit "Straight Outta Compton," featuring female voices shouting, "I Want to F**** You," in a direct quote of the old NWA line where the girls scream the same line to Eazy-E. The difference here is Scarlett gets to quote it too, in a sort of equal-opportunity, what's good for the goose is good for the gander philosophy. _Violator_ arrays its big guns early, with these three tunes and LL Cool J's "Say What" (which is a fine tune but nothing earth-shattering) laying down the groundwork for the album. But for all their heavy hitting, there's a slight sense of these some of these artists, particularly Flipmode Squad and Noreaga, offering up momentary diversions in their career trajectories, fun but inconsequential experiments and ephemera, as a favor to their good friend, manager and record executive, Chris Lighty. What's even more interesting is the few glimpses we get of some up and coming talent on this record, who are offering Lighty their best here. Particularly intriguing are the opening Q-Tip track, his first bit of solo since leaving A Tribe Called Quest, and Mysonne, a 23-year-old rapper from the Bronx whose voice first made an appearance on Mase's recent album, _Double Up._ Mysonne is featured on two tracks, in a triumvirate including Mase and Eightball ("Do What Playas Do") a catchy, swinging tune all about who's the real man that sounds like it was made to be played in a convertible, cruising down the strip. There's also his great crossover duet with breakthrough R&B artists, Next, which features judicious use of a talkbox to great effect. And finally, there's his driving track, "The Truth," which among other things features a fun sample of Jack Nicholson screaming, "You can't handle the truth!" Mysonne is definitely one to watch out for. I plan to seek out his debut album whenever Def Jam releases it in the first half of 2000. There are highlights from lesser-known but still fairly big-name ghetto superstars, including the sexy, undeniable track, "Ohh Wee" by Cru, guaranteed to get any group of party people moving, with its undeniable driving groove. Also worth checking out is an intense collaboration by Noreaga, Final Chapter, Iman Thug, Capone, Scarlett, Musaliny and Mase, called "Thugged Out N*****," featuring great interweaving trade-off raps that make the track come alive. You really feel like everybody was sitting around together, having a great time trying out their stuff on each other, each trying to do a little bit better than the one before them. My favorite line by far? "Marilyn Manson/dumb n*****/imagine me dancin' ---not!" It's followed immediately by two other gems: First there's the RZA-style Big Noyd track, "S*** That He Said," a breathless, gangsta cautionary tale about how shooting your mouth off about the wrong guy on the street can get you shot, featuring a eerie sample from the Four Tops' "Good Lord Knows"; then there's the fun Latin hip-hop stylings of longtime Violator artists, The Beatnuts, collaborating with Triple Seis on "Beatnuts Forever." The result is a lush, disco-funk track with a great string sample that sounds a bit like a Pras outtake. There are some disappointments here, such as the Busta Rhymes, Noreaga, Prodigy, et al. collaboration of "Violators" which sounds like a permanent intro and really goes nowhere, despite some appealing tough-chick rapping from Sonya Blade. Ditto on the other Busta Rhymes track, with Flipmode Squad, all of which made me just want to go back to the Flipmode genius on track two. Da Franchise and Ja Rule take a great Teddy Pendergrass sample and do little with it, contributing a fairly plodding rap. Mobb Deep, with "Nobody Likes Me" is equally uninspired, with a one measure loop repeated endlessly, featuring a fairly lifeless vocal track. But _Violator_ is mostly a great sampler from a great wide-spread stable of diverse rap and R&B artists, both for fans who couldn't get most of these songs elsewhere, and for the rap dilettante looking for a sure bet. --- REVIEW: Paula Cole, _Amen_ (Imago/WB) - Michael Van Gorden Where have all the cowboys gone indeed! Probably best known for the aforementioned song as well as her hit single "I Don't Want To Wait", and her stint on the Lilith tour, the former Peter Gabriel backup singer has really grown and matured as an artist. Her latest work, _Amen_, opens with the pseudo 70's sound of the Love Unlimited Orchestra funk in "I believe in Love". But don't let the disco sound scare you. Unlike other so-called "Divas" of the 90's, Paula Cole can sing and emote without having to scream and screech. And she handles this great opening number with class. The Paula Cole Band as they are called now, are on hand to support Paula through the many different musical styles she explores on _Amen_. The turntable scratch opens "Rhythm Of Life" and Paula tries her hand at rapping. The lite jazz sound of "Free" accompany the struggle on faces trying to help a loved one be more open, more free, and how one can become imprisoned by it. Tionaa Watkins, otherwise known as T-Boz from TLC helps out on background vocals during the bittersweet number "Be Somebody". The song opens up with a brutal yet, honest story of a boy who had so much promise, and yet is gunned down simply for what he saw. The singer trying to find a way, some inner strength to rise above it all: "And oh my God, what is this Madness? I will not let it kill my Gladness". The outcome, of course, is one that has met with much resistance as far as Paula's fans and critics are concerned. That of looking to God for relief. Odd how when one sings about evil, most will say it is reality, and must be addressed, but when confronted with something they have a hard time believing in, they become less tolerant. Paula sounds more relaxed on this album, gone is the anger, or confusion, the inner turmoil of the past. Some attribute this to a new found interest in God. Whatever the reason, it has allowed her to expand her musical horizon, to look and express different sides of herself. Other numbers such as "Pearl", "Suwannee Jo", and the silky smooth "La Tonya" fill out a great album of new music. Musically she is supported by The Paula Cole Band, guitarist Kevin Barry and drummer Jay Bellerose. Tony Levin on bass, Greg Leisz on pedal steel fill out the sound. Whatever it is that has inspired Paula Cole this time out really shouldn't matter. The music is what matters and this is the best album she has released. --- REVIEW: Whitlams, _Love This City_ (Black Yak/Phantom IMPORT) - Chris Hill Fueled as it was by the death of bandmate and close friend Stevie Plunder, the emotionally cathartic _Eternal Nightcap_ struck a responsive chord with the Australian public, catapulting the Whitlams' third studio album to acclaim as the best selling independent album in the country's history. Take a look at the website (http://www.thewhitlams.com), and you'll see that the now sole Whitlams frontman, Tim Freedman, was both aware and unfazed by the expectations that _Talking Shop_ (the album's working title) should surpass _...Nightcap_'s benchmark. A last-minute name change, and _Love This City_ was released November 1st to critical and popular Australian praise. (Outside the country, it remains an import for now. A true shame, as the initial pressings included an 8+ minute "secret" (mentioned in every review I've seen) track of studio banter and song snippets. At first, _Love This City_ disturbed, with the absence of the angst and disturbance which permeated _Eternal Nightcap_, notably found therein the trio of "Charlie" songs. The follow- up album seemed slick and glib, overproduced and hollow compared to the surgical revelations of the last album. Several songs leapt out - "Time" (incredibly infectious with horns and hooky chorus) and "Pretty As You" (with power chords that vibrate the medulla oblongata), but overall, it struck as calculated and forced, with orchestral treatments that leave songs lush and shiny, rather than appreciably spare. That was the first listen. The second, each song leapt out with perfect clarity, which displays both the unfair expectations faced by Freedman and the meticulous care he took in assembling the album. Knowing the scrutiny would be intense, each song was given a proper gestation in the studio, whether located in Australia or the United States. (Freedman travelled to Nashville to record several of the songs). Several songs are familiar from earlier incarnations. "You Gotta Love This City", the title track, is a revamping of an earlier single b-side, luscious in its critical yet affectionate condemnation of Sydney's winning bid to host the Olympic Games. "My city is a whore/opened herself up to the world/Jumped up and down in pastel shirts/And lathered up thinking about designs for t-shirts". "400 Miles from Darwin" orchestrally reworks the "Melbourne" single b-side, updating it to reflect Freedman's ire at the East Timor slaughter currently underway. The song is a moral mirror - how easy is it to feel comfortable and righteous, safely watching "Schindler's List" in a theater, thinking we'd act in a proper manner, though we hesitate while identical events occur around us. But it's the new ones that dazzle. "Time", with a fantastic chorus of "Time, time, time/is doing well by us", tells an old fact. Love comes, love goes, but the connections once built, last, and can be rekindled. "It's been some months since she came around/Lying where she used to lie/She's so beautiful I could eat her" - honest and unashamed of sexual desire, the refreshing "Time" evokes "I Make Hamburgers", a track from the Whitlams' back catalog about a hamburger worker's liaisons through his job. Walking the fine line between lewd and loving, Freedman reminds us of the frank pleasure and enjoyment in love. "Her Floor Is My Ceiling" enlists swirling strings and resounding percussion to take a look at unrequited love between a downstairs man and his upstairs, unattainable neighbor. "Oh, if she liked the look of me/I'd get my act together". "There's No-one" examines a similar loneliness. "It's strange to be happy if your boyfriend is lonely/That's the way they are/It's strange to be happy if your girlfriend's lonely/But that's the way we are". Monogamous ties aren't a restriction as much as a glory to revel in, and the loss is felt when there's no one waiting at home for your call. Sweet gospel vocals and the trademark Whitlams piano sound leave this song lingering in the memory long after the music's faded. "You Made Me Hard" gives an obvious initial impression, but that would be in error. Written by Australian songwriter Bernie Hayes, the song is about the steeling of a man thanks to a woman's influence - he "was simple", but now he "knows". And to give Freedman his due, how many songwriters would allow another's contribution to an album that is sure to get the immediate sales attention which follows a hit record? That kind of loyalty to one's countrymen is laudable. "Thankyou (for loving me at my worst)" is a bouncy, jaunty nod of appreciation to fans and friends, and an indication that the wild oats haven't been fully sown ("Can we be crazy for a few more years? Have I got them in me?"). The funky "Chunky Chunky Air Guitar", the current single in Australia, is a catchy radio friendly track with nonsensical lyrics: "Bellhop blues with a midget butt-boy in Sweden/Chockfull of puss and wolved by a little French maid". Fourteen songs plus the "secret" track make this a must-buy now, while the band's non-Australian following numbers in the cult status. With similarly talented bands like Crowded House and Ben Folds Five striking mainstream gold, buying the imports now will be cheaper than searching Ebay for rarities in the future. --- COMPILATION REVIEWS: Friends Again, Totally Hits, Game Time - Bob Gajarsky The second installment of the Friends soundtrack - this time known as _Friends Again_ (Reprise) - mixes a wide variety of music from the alternative spectrum. The mix of Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong and Penelope Houston on "Angel And The Jerk" works perfectly - even those who aren't fans of Green Day are likely to find themselves humming this song. The bubblegum pop of newcomer Loreta on the album's first single, "Trouble With Boys" proves to be an anomaly from the general spirit of the album; more in the spirit of the soundtrack are two excellent covers, Smash Mouth's take on Let's Active's "Every Word Means No" and Robbie Williams strong version of the Pet Shop Boys "I Wouldn't Normally Do This Kind Of Thing". And the Chrissie Hynde / Lisa Kudrow (or Phoebe Buffay) track "Smelly Cat" does provide some comic amusement. A kitschy hip-hop/rap version of the Rembrandt's theme show closes the disc, which was an unfortunate decision. Other than that one track however - no matter how you feel about the television show - _Friends Again_ is likely to receive repeated listens. _Totally Hits_ (Arista / WEA) is the label's answer to the NOW compilation series. A huge success in its native England, NOW (That's What I Call Music) is up to number 44; the American equivalent is on number 3. Here, _Totally Hits_ incorporates all the musical genres for an 18 track hits selection. The modern rock artists featured here - Sugar Ray, Santana / Matchbox 20's Rob Thomas, Barenaked Ladies, Third Eye Blind, Sarah McLachlan and Madonna - occupy one-third of the album's cuts. So although people who own _Stunt_ or _Ray Of Light_ won't purchase this album (unless they are collectors of BNL or the Material Girl), the hope is that they might want to purchase the TLC album after hearing "No Scrubs". Or Kid Rock, with "Bawitdaba". Or, to avoid spending $16 on Cher's _Believe_ or Faith Hill's _Faith_ for one song, you can buy _Totally Hits_ and save the money for something more worthwhile. _Fox Sports Presents Game Time_ (Priority) is targetted right on to the Gen-Xers who prefer Fox's NFL pregame show to the competition on CBS. Again, an 'answer' disc - this time to the Jock Rock series - _Game Time_ covers rap (Puff Daddy, Snoop Dogg, Master P), rock and dance in a non-stop adrenaline rush. While sports 'anthems' such as Blur's "Song #2" (woo hoo) and Republica's "Ready To Go" are already staples, some tracks such as Moby's "Bodyrock" and JS-16 techno standout "Stomp To My Beat" serve to pave the way for future themes. Yet another album which could serve as a party collection - if you ignore the Fox interludes. --- REVIEW: The Faces, _Good Boys...When They're Asleep_, (Rhino) - Bill Holmes Long before Rod The Mod became a balladeer (and I mean that in a BAD way) and Ronnie Wood traded anorexic guitar poses with his evil twin Keith Richards, they were two-fifths of The Faces, a group that was either the best band in the world or the drunkest band...or maybe both (it depends upon whether The Kinks were playing that night). First formed as a group of jilted musical lovers, three Steve Marriott-less Small Faces absorbed two Jeff Beck Group castoffs and caroused their way to rock and roll history. I tell you this because I was there. If you had to rely on the printed word, or the record racks, or (gulp!) the airwaves, you'd never know. Rhino Records bellied-up to the bar on your behalf with a single disc "best of" collection, and they've even thrown in a previously unreleased song to sweeten the pot. Dave Marsh, God bless him, scribed the reverential liner notes and throws his hat in the ring on their behalf. But for me, it's bittersweet -- a dynamic, earth-shattering, genuine slice of rock and roll's foundation gets another breath of life...but it's a nineteen track CD, not a three or four disc box set. That said, this collection is a credible addition even if you have some or all of the Faces titles, and if you have not dipped your toe in these beer-soaked waters yet, it's a good place to start. With any collection, you're going to get the obvious must-have's and agonize over the why-couldn't-they-fit-that-in-too's, but it's hard to argue with the selection _Good Boys_ offers. Rightfully grabbing the lion's share from _A Nod Is As Good As A Wink To A Blind Horse_, the midsection of this chronologically organized platter gives us the band at their rollicking best. The 1-2-3 punch of "Miss Judy's Farm," "You're So Rude" and "Too Bad" is as balls to the wall powerful now as then, as is the classic "Stay With Me", the definitive Wood/Stewart romp. The three cuts from the embryonic _First Step_ are solid (and one is an alternate version), and only "Memphis" from _Long Player_ or "My Fault" from _Ooh La La_ are missed in these circumstances. Including the final two singles "Pool Hall Richard" and "You Can Make Me Dance, Sing Or Anything," is a no-brainer, and the sweet and pretty "Open To Ideas" is a perfect coda to this too-short journey. Who knows if the rumors of Rod hoarding his "better material" were really true, but it's interesting to think how much longer The Faces would have stuck it out if they got more credit and had more hits. (One thing for certain -- if Rod tried to stick "D'ya Think I'm Sexy" on a Faces album he'd have gotten his ass...er, arse...kicked!) Even though they were staples of the Faces repertoire, many recognizable songs like "I Know I'm Losing You" and "True Blue" could not be included here because they were from Rod's "solo" career. But what about the outtakes, the live cuts, the BBC sessions? Ahh....there I go again talking about box sets instead of thanking Rhino for letting all the Replacements and Black Crowes fans see where the roots of their trees lie. And I'll admit it: when I think of all the old bands getting together for the bucks after years away from the limelight (do we really need more Journey and Styx songs?), a small but hopeful flame burns in my heart that one day these lads will rise again as well. Unfortunately, Ronnie Lane's recent tragic death from MS rules out reuniting the original lineup; the closest thing we've gotten to that was Stewart's _Unplugged_ performance. But if the other four were ever up for it, hell - I'll scour every corner bar looking for Tetsu Yamauchi. And if I can't find him, I'll get a rooster haircut, some velvet pants and a glass of bourbon and play the damn bass myself. --- REVIEW: The Get Up Kids, _Something to Write Home About_ (Vagrant) - Kerwin So Let me start off by saying that I love the Get Up Kids. For a while they represented all that was vital and appealing about rock 'n' roll-- great songs, unbelievable energy, and emotion to spare. From their critically acclaimed debut _Four Minute Mile,_ to their hard-to-find "Woodson" EP, to this summer's smoother sounding but still excellent "Red Letter Day" EP, the Get Up Kids could literally do no wrong. Even their tributes to the Pixies and the Cure were inspired and true, entertaining on their own while doing justice to the originals. The Get Up Kids simultaneously defined and innovated the emerging face of emo rock. So, what happened? The new CD _Something to Write Home About_ mocks its own title-- for a few pretty good songs, you have to wade through a deluge of sappy filler. It's an album marred by bad decisions. For one thing, the band decided to give up the able hands of guys like Ed Rose and Bob Weston to produce the record themselves. That was a huge mistake: besides putting too much emphasis on lead singer Matt Pryor's whiny tenor, the entire record has a thoroughly bland, almost adult-contemporary texture to it, and songs like the rockin' "Close to Home," which could have been great, are sapped of their potential. Moreover, the vast majority of tracks the Get Up Kids chose to include are ballads and mellower songs, devoid of the band's trademark dynamics and blistering energy-- no doubt in an attempt to demonstrate that they are "maturing." I completely welcome musicians' efforts to grow and develop their sound, but one of the unfortunate outcomes of this new emphasis on ballads (besides robbing long-time fans of the band we once knew and loved) is the subsequent prominence of the lyrics. The Get Up Kids still need more time to expand their lexicon and explore other themes-- words like "anniversary" and "apology" are spewed forth all too often. Ironically, most of the good songs on _Something to Write Home About_ have already been released. The song "Red Letter Day" can be found on the EP of the same name, and "I'm a Loner Dottie, a Rebel" was released as part of Tree Records' Postmarked Stamps 7" series. Both songs sounded better in their previous incarnations. The only truly new song which resembles the Get Up Kids of old is the solid "Ten Minutes" (incidentally the only track on which guitarist Jim Suptic sings lead), whose crunchy guitars, energizing rhythms, and perfectly-placed vocal harmonies actually work well within the context of the slick new production in a Foo Fighters sort of way. The Get Up Kids tried to lose the "kids" in their name with their latest record, trying to grow up too fast in a sometimes treacherous emo scene that feeds on red-raw emotion, freshly scrubbed youth, and bands who die out before they ever record their third album. Sticking to a fiercely independent aesthetic, the Get Up Kids declined major label offers in favor of signing with Vagrant, unfortunately cementing a couple of mistakes in the process: alienating some of their core fans with a lackluster new record, and losing the opportunity to make it big and still produce a worthwhile work of art (like Capitol now exiles Jimmy Eat World). Although _Something to Write Home About_ disappoints, I'm more than willing to give the band another chance, as they still have a lot going for them, and have already written so many great songs that they ought to be allowed some missteps before reaching their mid-20s. Besides, their live show remains super-fun. Here's to better decisions come the next time. --- NEWS: > Jimmy Iovine (co-chairman of Interscope / Geffen / A&M) and Doug Morris (chairman of Universal Music Group) have announced the formation of Jimmy and Doug's Farm Club, a new record label which allows artists to have direct contact with major record executives, obtaining professional input and feedback from fans, be showcased on a weekly television show on the USA Network, and secure a major recording contract. The site will be located at http://www.farmclub.com . > Indie rock fans may want to check out the site http://www.supersphere.com , where live performances from groups such as Promise Ring, Fugazi, Joan of Arc, Don Caballero, Kool Keith and more have been broadcast. --- TOUR DATES: John Digiweed Dec. 10 San Francisco, CA 1015 Club Dec. 11 Tempe, AZ Pompeii Dec. 17 Los Angeles, CA Palace Dec. 18 Boulder, CO Soma lOUNGE Jan. 1 New York, NY Twilo Gorky's Zygotic Mynci Dec. 10 Washington, DC 9:30 Club Dec. 11 Philadelphia, PA Trocadero Dec. 13 Toronto, ON Horseshoe Tavern Dec. 15 New York, NY Irving Plaza Ben Harper Dec. 10 Providence, RI Lupo's Dec. 11 Burlington, VT Memorial Aud. Dec. 12 New Haven, CT Webster Theater Jayhawks Dec. 10 Moorhead, MN Kirby's Dec. 11 Duluth, MN Shrine Auditorium Dec. 18 Minneapolis MN, First Ave. Mike Ness Dec. 10 West Palm Beach, FL Carefree Theatre Dec. 11 Lake Buena Vista, FL House of Blues Dec. 12 St. Petersburg, FL State Theatre Michael Penn / Aimee Mann Dec. 14, 21 Los Angeles, CA Largo Cafe Rage Against The Machine / Gang Starr Dec. 11 New Orleans, LA Lakewood Arena Dec. 13 Houston, TX Summit Arena Dec. 14 San Antonio, TX Alamo Dome Dec. 16 Phoenix, AZ America West Arena Dec. 18 San Diego, CA Cox Arena Dec. 19-20 Los Angeles, CA Great Western Forum --- Founded in August, 1993, Consumable Online is the oldest music reviews publication on the Internet. To get back issues of Consumable, check out: WWW: http://www.consumableonline.com 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. PMB 294, Hoboken, New Jersey 07030 ===