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Juggling Suns / Living on the Edge of Change / Hydrophonics
(CD)
On Living on the Edge of Change, post-Dead jam band Juggling Suns
saunter in with 70 minutes of reefer-inspired, mind-expanding, prog-rock
songs. If you like Phish you'll probably like Juggling Suns. If you like
trancey bands like Spiritualized you'll most likely dig the
"way-out-there-ness" of some Living . . . tracks ("Restless", "Spin
Song"). Punk disciples, however, might fall asleep somewhere in the middle
of one of the up-to-15-minute-long jams. Thank goodness for bands like
Juggling Suns, though, who else would adopt all of the dislodged deadheads
wandering around out there? -- nw
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Shango / Metal Mafia / Back Room (CD)
If you're expecting pop songs about smoochin' and summer days, have
your ears check out "Hand & Crotch" or "Just Play the Fuckin' Song" for
a reality check, courtesy of Brookyln's Shango. This trio of Metalites
harkens back to crunchy, 80's-era metal, with a distinct hardcore edge
and in your face NY attitude. The deft combination of skilled
musicianship and authentic street cred that have created the Shango
behemoth will most assuredly succeed in its mission - securing a
definite emotive response from your lips. Tired of death, thrash,
satanic and rap-metal? Here's a slab of the genuine article... -- am
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Meat Beat Manifesto / Actual Sounds & Voices / Nothing (CD)
The latest by Mr. Dangers and co. initially comes off as a bit of
an also-ran. Despite some strong moments ("Prime Audio Soup", "Acid Again")
there are some bits that really drag. Don't fall prey to the mistaken
assumption
that MBM are mindless body music -- though the beats are huge and the rhythms
eminently danceable, Actual Sounds and Voices is, by the very nature of
its found-sound construction, an album for attentive listeners. There's a
lot to
discover, even when the beats grow sparse and the melodies turn minimal. -- gz
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Everlast / Whitey Ford Sings the Blues / Tommy Boy (CD)
Caucasian House of Pain member Everlast checks in with an album of
down-home-blues-guitar-driven hip-hop. Imagine Johnny Cash or perhaps
Chris Whitley doing a rap album, toss in a dash of contemporary urban
social conscience and you'll twig to the spirit of the project. Guest
spots by
Prince Paul, the underappreciated Bronx Style Bob and others add to the
appeal of this very palatable disc. Midway through the recording of Whitey
Ford, Everlast underwent emergency open-heart surgery, and much of the
narrative mirrors his heightened sense of mortality (though, spookily, it was
written prior to the surgery). You even get to see a picture of his scar
in the
CD artwork. How cool is that? -- gz
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Why? Things Burn / before you sleep . . . / T.O.N. (CD)
The songs on before you sleep... remind me a lot of early R.E.M.
tunes...or maybe it's Afghan Whigs. I'm not sure but it's
definitely contemporary alt-rock of some sort. Everything's sort of
grungy, melodic angst-ridden pop -- you know the drill. You won't find
anything earth-shakingly new on before..., but if you like
proficient, '90s college-type rock it's worth a try. Listen to the moody
"Falling" and see what you think. -- nw
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Warm / Make You Worry / B-Group (CD)
It took me several listens to get a handle on this disc, and I'm still not sure I've got one. To me, Warm came off as a combination, in roughly equal parts, of Bush, INXS, Sting and (fill in your favorite mellow R&B artist here), with elements of 70s rock, trip-hop and techno tossed in in tiny portions. This vast array of sounds is skillfully intermeshed, and Warm are infinitely more palatable than any of the above-named acts. I wouldn't be surprised if I heard them on the radio tomorrow. The three remixes included on the disc, especially the romantic "Did I Make You Worry", should gain them some additional airplay. -- gz
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Tutti Troppo / 21 / T.O.N. (CD)
From the T.O.N. rock vaults comes this 1994 release of
pseudo-folk-blues-alt-rock. The focal point of each song is the
swaggering, Joplinesque vocals of Lizzy Balogh. While "Amlisa" has a
soul-searching quality about it, the frenetic, stream of consciousness
spoutings of "21" are entertainingly amusing. Unfortunately for Tutti
Troppo, the generally derivative nature of the tunes may keep them in the
vaults for sometime to come. -- am
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Ominous Seapods / Matinee Idols / Megaforce/Hydrophonics (CD)
Hands down, this is the best psychedelic-pop-funk-jam-album-
with-a-retro-sci-fi-theme I've heard all year. Culled from a quartet of
New York tavern shows, these mostly long-ass songs percolate in
fairly straightforward post-Jerry fashion -- but while I frequently
find myself loathing the output of similar bands, I found the Ominous
Seapods to have above-average control over their self-indulgent-noodling
faculties. My only gripe is that much is made of the atmosphere at
a Seapods show, but very little audience noise made it onto the disc --
and for me, audience noise is an essential part of a live disc. Perhaps the
free "Late Show" CD offered in Matinee Idols will correct this
minor oversight... -- gz
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