BARENAKED
LADIES - Maroon A steady build-up through some very listenable rock
songs featuring the Ladies’ tongue in cheek attitude arrives at the album’s climax
and triumphant high note. The last track Tonight Is The Night I Fell Asleep
At The Wheel, is a huge song filled with black humour, a sense of adventure
and varied enough to make you think it’s two songs in stead of one. Still very
off-center-college-guy in many respects, the boys do have a pretty distinct sound
that could keep them afloat for some time to come. - PB 3 / B THE
BEATLES - Yellow Submarine Songtrack (EMI) The classic animated film
featuring music and themes by The Beatles can now be heard in re-mastered
quality. Most of the tracks from the film are more of their “comical” tracks,
for want of a better term. A less serious, more fun collection, reminding us of
a Beatles era that did, in smaller or larger measures, changed the world. From
the wobbly opening vocal strains of Ringo on the title track, all the way through
to such classics as All Together Now, Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds, Sgt. Pepper’s,
All you Need Is Love and When I’m Sixty Four. More serious (or sad
songs) like Eleanor Rigby and Nowhere Man is also present to remind
us that the Liverpudlian boys are not full time jesters. A great collection even
if you’re not a fan of the (hate that term) Fab Four. [PS. At the very end of
the last track It’s All Too Much, the riff sounds suspiciously just like that
of Michael Jackson’s Black Or White…] - PB 5 / A BEAVIS
AND BUTT-HEAD DO AMERICA - Motion Picture Soundtrack (BMG) Die lawwe,
goedkoop strokies reeks wat Mike Judge vir M-TV geskep het, het in 'n monster
verander. En in plaas daarvan dat hierdie monster homself verskeur, raak hy net
al hoe groter! Beavis en Butt-Head het 'n wereldwye kulturele norm geword met
hulle musiek video afkrakery, lae intellektuele vlak, dowwe gegiggel en voorliefde
vir luide musiek. En nou het hulle hul eie rolprent ! En klankbaan ! Die verskeidenheid
op hierdie CD is meer rock georienteerd, met kunstenaars soos White Zombie
(wat die swaarste snit lewer), Butthole Surfers, Ozzy Osbourne, AC/DC en
Red Hot Chilli Peppers wie se Love Rollercoaster se 70's gevoel
al heelwat op die radio te hoor is. Buiten 'n paar rap nommers is daar soul legende,
Isaac Hayes, se openings snit, wat ook 'n skiet is op die 70er jare se polisie
TV dramas. Koel en funky. Die mees eienaardige snit is die van Engelbert Humperdinck
met die ongekarakteriseerde titel, Lesbian Seagull. Ek wonder wie gaan,
nes Beavis en Butt-Head, gek skeer met die musiek videos wat van hulle klankbaan
af kom... - PB 4 / A BELL,
BOOK & CANDLE - Read My Sign This German act has no elements of witchcraft
or humour like the Jack Lemmon & Kim Novak film of the 50's with the same title.
In stead it is a pop mixture wich touches on Alanis Morrisette meets The Cranberries
meets Sinead O'Connor etc. The music isn't annoying, just too ordinary and in
no way special. Thus it'll make a great background CD if you don't want your conversation
interrupted. Two of the most outstanding tracks are two instrumentals, Still
Points and Dark Moon. They're atmospheric and really draws you in -
but then, it's rudely crushed by the over-quirky Heyo and Rhapsody In
Blue. Depending on your mood I guess you'll could feel that the latter or
that the energy of the entire CD is brought down by the smooth (and too damn short)
instrumentals - that'll depend on your personal headspace at the time. Rescue
Me is their definitive radio track and is the closest to Sinead of all the
tracks. A passable listen but only if you can handle this type of music which
is not forceful enough nor passionate enough to make you sit up and take notice.
- PB 2 / B THE
BEST EIGHTIES ALBUM IN THE WORLD…EVER! Volume 2 (EMI) What an amazing
double disc compilation. Just look at some of these: Duran Dura, Dead Or Alive,
Erasure, Eurythmics, Human League, O, Madness, Mel & Kim, Frankie Goes To Hollywood,
Belouis Some, After The Fire, Thomson Twins, Samantha Fox, Toto Coelo, Billy Ocean
and a shitload more. OK, some suck like, Culture Club, Kylie & Jason, Starship
and John Farnham, but no decade can go without its low points. Some selections
of the bands could’ve been better, but I guess that’s just me being prejudiced
having preferred certain songs during that wonderful decade of my teens - it’s
my basic human right, goddammit! Anyway, if this one so cool, imagine what the
first volume must be like…yes…I wonder…Greg, have they found one yet? I can’t
wait any longer. - PB 5 / A BEST
OF MY LOVE (BMG) Though Country music is a Honkey form of the Blues in many
ways, it does however have certain diffirentiations, the most obvious being the
more traditional or folky style and the new wave. This New Voice Of Country release
concentrates on the subject that does crop op most of the time in this genre,
although it’s a bit more optimistic. Of the 19 artists on this disc, many can
actually slide into the pop category real easily, but for some country hints.
They include the likes of Leann Rimes, Dixie Chicks, Deana Carter, while Randy
Travis, Clint Black, Keith Whitley, Sara Evans and Tim McGraw are more attached
to the traditional style. Other stars include stalwarts Alabama, George Strait,
Wynonna, The Mavericks, Mindy McCready. Soothing, heartfelt sounds. -
PB 3 / C BIG
HITS 2000 Vol 2 (EMI) Any album with the words “Hits” & “Big” in the
title shouldn’t leave much to the imagination, the recognizable tracks having
been rotated on radio beyond tolerance will still have a large buying public out
there who want to treasure these “gems”. On this particular album we have 20 tracks
spanning across the board with some good ones, I must admit (especially on the
last ¼ of the disc. Moloko’s opening track is a cute little number followed by
Artful Dodger & Romina Johnson’s predictable retro hit, Movin’ Too Fast.
The absolutely annoying song Caught Out There by Kelis might have
many a lady cheering but it is totally unbearable. Nu Generation’s Rescue Me makeover
has a certain bouncing charm while The Tampeper is as artificial as they come.
Eiffel 65 chooses to utilise that annoying Cher & “I’m Blue”
vocal effect, not to mention the super-deep, banging & dope lyrics of…”everybody,
move your body…” Sheeesh! From there on we’re dragged through the likes of Kim
Lukas, Phats & Small (retro funky-thing), Soulsearcher (see aforementioned),
Superfunk (oh, well), The Artful Dodger (well-well), Paul Van
Dyk (Euro cheeze-rave), Alice Deejay (hmmm, better looking than sounding),
and Alena (can do without) before we get to the last ¼. Everything
But The Girl always seems to deliver slipping deeper into the emotions than
other dance acts. Our very own Boo (as loony as ever) & Fetish (best
track on the CD) cannot be denied, while Skunk Anansie will simply make
a point of denial not being an option. Baby Bird and Smash Mouth
rounds it all off quite nicely. And if you’re not a radio listener, check it out
to see what’s making the airwaves nowadays. - PB 3 / C BIG
PUN - Yeeeah Baby (Sony) Big Pun (aka Christopher Lee Rios
is big. No, I mean he’s really big. Or was at least, he passed away early 2000).
The very first track (intro excluded) contains a Starsky & Hutch sample while
Big Pun lets rip with his brand of rapping - which, unfortunately, offers very
little when comes to the chapter known as “something new”. Basketball (New
York Giants), Money & women (We Don’t Care), killing (Off Wit His
Head), self obsession (My Dick)… But with 16 tracks of pumping hip-hop
rap tracks, it will satisfy many a listener. - PB 3 / B BLOOD
DUSTER - Yeest (Relapse) One of the best Grindcore bands in the world
- and they’re from Australia! They actually prefer the term Psycho-Rock-Menstrual-Grind-Porn.
On this indispensable 32 track album the boys drive without mercy. What makes
this different is the absolutely catchy riffs and grooves they blend into the
exhilarating grind blasts. The lyrics are absolutely hilarious in its perverse
nature, the audio samples from New Zealand director Peter Jackson’s classic early
films adding to the fun feel. The production is great and the drums are kick-ass
precise with such a cool sound. The cover artwork is pretty damn sick, no denying
it, but it’s not like they even take it seriously (some sick fucks out there will,
though). But then, they have a banjo collage on the inlay card. In track zero
(press play on track 1 then reverse song search into the hidden track) contains
a totally amazing hardcore dance re-mix that’ll pound any raveboy’s skull in and
turn him onto something with more balls. Damn heavy, damn groovy and damn entertaining.
- PB 6 / A BLOODHOUND
GANG - Hooray for Boobies! Now, it's difficult to sit down and write
a completely unbiased review for a band like BLOODHOUND GANG. They're typically
the type of band you either love or hate. And I simply love 'em! So I might as
well write the "good" review, as I'm sure that someone, somehwere, out there who
sympathises with Tipper Gore is going to brand BLOODHOUND GANG as a bunch of adolescent
hooligans who think they found God at the business end of an Akai S1-11 sampler.I,
for one, believe that they might have done just that! How
anybody can not be totally spellbound by the popular throbbing beats, slick guitar
churning and the ever potent catchy bass- and keyboard lines that this gang of
five deliver is mysterious to me...but if you've gotten this far into reading
this review, I'm probably preaching to the choir anyway! Well, I hope so. So let
me get on with it... Now, the fusion of humor and music is not a new thing...
especially among the Australians, what with Kevin Bloody Wilson, Paul Hogan and
Ralph Harris all having delivered a few punchlines along with basslines they seem
to lead the field in this genre... until BLOODHOUND GANG came sniffing at our
door! But there's a difference...(This is NOT a comparison, for there is none...
it is merely to illustrate a point, alrighty?) Wilson et al relied heavily on
the humorous aspect of their songs to make them memorable while sort of letting
the music itself suffer through mindless basic chord changes that echoed the rythym
of Oompah bands, but BLOODHOUND GANG actually write some awesome tunes worthy
of dancefloor status... and possibly to the extent that some hotshot producers
with vinyl asperations might come begging for remixing opportunites! I'd like
to see that happening to BLOODHOUND GANG material myself, actually. Using the
platform of the 5 band members' collective apparent influences, HOORAY FOR BOOBIES
slips and slides from Punk (I HOPE YOU DIE) to (is there a difference?) Thrash
(YUMMY DOWN ON THIS, MAGNA CUM NADA) to Electro/Techno/Dance (THE INEVITABLE RETURN
OF THE GREAT WHITE DOPE) to even a send up of classic Country & Western (A LAPDANCE
IS ALWAYS BETTER WHEN THE STRIPPER IS CRYING) all set against the backdrop of
the band's main choice of musical message delivery, which I shall call 'aproppriated
white rap'. (Simply because I don't think anybody's ever tried to pidgeonhole
these guys using a term other than "rap".) Add to this a healthy dose of clever
samples and outakes from "opm" (other people's music) and you've got yourself
a pound of BLOODHOUND. But, enough with the pleasantries already, let's talk about
BLOODHOUND GANGS'S poigniant and witty insight into, and commentry on, all the
various, often overlooked things that litter a neon-lit, racy, reborn, so-called
post-postmodern culture emerging in a society that seems to be successfully surviving
the paradigm shift ushered in by the advent of the internet. (Ooh! There's THAT
word again!) Seriously now, this is very funny stuff... most of which you will
catch, some of which might float haphazardly over the top of your head if you're
not at least familiar with the USA's myriad lifestyles and many of it's often-mentioned-in-songs-on-this-CD
consumer products. Fans of 80's culture and music, The Simpsons, movies (both
mainstream and porno), Fodder Television (ie: crap) and "culture-watching" in
general, will find this album might strike a lovely and sweetly sustained and
overdriven powerchord with them... and as for the established fans, you're gonna
love how the band has somehow "grown up" with this album, but still managed to
keep a tight rein on the "adolescent yet informed" spirit evident in their earlier
work. As they themselves graffiti on their CD inner sleeve, "NO REASON TO LIVE,
BUT WE LIKE IT THAT WAY". Truth be told, these guys have more reason to live than
many. (Did I say that out loud?) Anyway, Jimmy Pop seems to be the incredible
creative driving force behind the GANG, penning utterly superbly funny and brilliantly
convoluted lyrics and then delivering them in a fashion that would have the rest
of us untying the knots in our tongues. For those of you who are still under the
tired old, worn out, misguided-from-the-start-anyway notion that Jim Morrison
was a genuis, I'd like to introduce you to Jimmy Pop: pure undiluted genius. And
that's not saying enough for him, considering he's all of just 27 winters since
leaving the warm womb of the woman he converses with in one telephone-recorded
track on the CD titled MAMA'S BOY. You have to hear this! Jimmy calls his mother
up for assistance in finding words that rhyme with "vagina" while he's scribbling
lyrics for THREE POINT ONE FOUR, the album's third track (if you don't count MAMA'S
BOY as a bona fide track, that is.) You have to sit back and wonder at the humor
at work in this conversation, if it is a staged dialoghue... it's very well acted
and seems to be a bona fide recorded conversation... and it must be, for BLOODHOUND
GANG stand for all that is real, and righteous and true, even if it is funny.
Their entire mission seems to be one of upfrontedness, even if it means being
underhanded to portray that! But without letting too many more surprises out of
the proverbial bag, I'll tell you that this is one album you're going to want
to share with your friends. And thank God, too... the bigger this band's fanbase
gets, the better. Genius like this should never go unnoticed. And it seems as
though it's going very much noticed in some circles. The CD back shows the GANG
lying with some naked models, all or some of whom might be famous adult filmstars...
now, I don't know if any of you have ever heard of Chasey Lain... but she's famous
enough in the adult entertainment world for the GANG to have written an entire
song in her honor (THE BALLAD OF CHASEY LAIN)... and while some might think this
totally juvenile, just wait... Chasey Lain herself does a little spoken (and of
course hilarious) extro to the song... surprise surprise! Seems the GANG have
been making major in roads and friends in the adult entertainment world... but
I'm not mentioning that as a positive aspect of this album... although it could
be! Rarely does a band as young AND as clever as BLOODHOUND GANG come along, and
even though HOORAY is their 3rd album, it's the perfect "introductory starter
kit" for those of you who've never experienced them before. This'll be your first
reading of "Encyclopedia Bloodhound Gangica" and even if you don't like the flavor
of their pop-rock-rap-punk-thrash-country-whatever tunes, you'll still most probably
be very impressed with the multitudes of things these guys seem know about. For
all their humor and flippancy, they might just teach you a thing or two... these
boys are informed, but it's always been commonplace that good, clever humor is
the domain of those of slightly more than above-average intelligence. And if you
understood what I just said, you're ready to hear HOORAY FOR BOOBIES! A star rating?
How does one give this album a star rating? It's completely off the "star-scale"!...
but for the sake of Pete, I'll give it 2. Only 2? Well... one star to censor out
the nipples on each of those incredible BOOBIES! HOORAY for HOORAY FOR BOOBIES.
And HOORAY for BLOODHOUND GANG. - Brett Reynolds, USA correspondent
6 / A BLUR
- The Best Of After 1 ½ dozen tracks by everyone’s favourite Oasis
alternative, it is evident that they are more Britpop than -rock. The boys have
indeed recorded some memorable tracks in their career - memorable not necessarily
always constituting mind-blowing. The two opening tracks are by far my gems: the
drifting Beetlebum and heaviest thing they’ve ever done, Song Nr. 2.
The disc is littered with Blur classics such as Girls And Boys and
Parklife. Damon’s stints as actor hasn’t detracted from his first career
choice (The Face with Robert Carlyle most notable). Universal contains
strings (as every band should do at least once) and has one hell of an uplifting
chorus. To The End's instrumentation has quite the ‘60s lounge feel complete
with subtle xylophone. Songs like Coffee And TV capture their sound and
essence pretty well. Many of the tunes will have you go, “Oh, yeah, I recognize
that,” not really having registered it was Blur, like for instance, Tender.
- PB 4 / B BLUR - The Best Of (EMI) Though they
still look and sound like a young band, the Blur boys have been around
long enough with a load of hits carved on their stick to justify this collection
- or they wanted money without recording a full album… Song 2, Beetlebum, Parklife,
She’s So High, Girls and Boys are all here with some new material thrown in.
- DH 4 / B THE
BRAND NEW HEAVIES - Trunk Funk: The Best Of I'm not generally a person
of prejudice, but sometimes you kind of expect a band to sound like their name.
Like 10 000 Maniacs and Fine Young Cannibals - this conjures up
something far more hectic than they are. Example: the band Obituary's sound fits
the name perfectly. The Brand New Heavies are niether heavy set in the
waisteline and neither do they reflect any kind of heaviness in their music. BNH
actually delve into the gospel of Funk with, well heavy conviction. Jan Kincaid,
Andrew Levy, Simon Bartholomew and the voice of Carleen Anderson ended up sticking
to these beliefs without fail and this Best Of is the accumulated effort
they made to keep the Funk alive since 1989. One half of the CD booklet gives
you their whole background and rise to being one of the UK's funkiest outfits.
Dream On Dreamer will be an instantly recognised track amoung the 18 cuts
of pure, unadulterated organic grooves. Without stealing from the '70's, BNH
manage to slap their own contemporary stamp on a genre people thought might go
belly-up. Not for Industrial fans, that's for sure. - PB 3 / B BRASSE
VANNIE KAAP (Ghetto Ruff) With absolutely no ties to Funny Carp, these
rapping Hip-Hop meisters from the Flats know how to do it and do it well.
With roots firmly settled in one of SA’s Rap/Hip-Hop stalwarts, Prophets Of
Da City (P.O.C), these guys know what they’re doing. Not ashamed to use the
language formerly known as that of the oppressor, they express themselves as best
they can, in their mother tongue. No excuses, no compromise. Very Cape Town, totally
noteworthy, definitely cool. - PB 4 / A JAN
BRITS - Gee Hom Vet! (BMG) South African Boere Music can in many ways
be seen as the country music of this part of the continent. It is however a more
jolly, party style music played for partying and dancing all night in stead of
crying in your beer. Jan throws in some traditional numbers besides his own compositions
(all of which are instrumentals). The unpolished sounds of Jan Brits’s guitar
has a certain charm with rough, raw edges that gives it character from track 1
through to 12. A lot of it sounds like single live takes. Definitely for a converted
audience, unless you like to collect strange rarities. - PB 3 / C |