SOUND CHECK : POP.Bryan Adams/``18 Til I Die'' Judging by some of the adolescent quirks on Bryan Adams' first studio CD in five years, you get the idea he's taking the album title, ``18 Til I Die,'' a tad too seriously: ``The Only Thing That Looks Good on Me Is You''? ``(I Wanna Be) Your Underwear''? Enough said. Nice to see Adams is putting some of this youthful snark snark elusive imaginary animal. [Br. Lit.: The Hunting of the Snark] See : Quarry snark - [Lewis Carroll, via the Michigan Terminal System] 1. A system failure. and zest back into his music. We were getting worried about Bry after all those soporific soporific /sop·o·rif·ic/ (sop?o-rif´ik) (so?po-rif´ik) 1. producing deep sleep. 2. hypnotic (2). sop·o·rif·ic adj. 1. ballads he's hit with lately. ``18 Til I Die'' (A&M) still features an overabundance o·ver·a·bun·dance n. A going or being beyond what is needed, desired, or appropriate; an excess: teenagers with an overabundance of energy. of soggy movie themes, but forget 'em. The album is primarily packed with bouncy, fun - albeit dumb - rock. Such as the rocking first single, ``The Only Thing That Looks Good on Me Is You.'' With its ZZ Top-style guitar and beat spurring his raspy rasp·y adj. rasp·i·er, rasp·i·est Rough; grating. Adj. 1. raspy - unpleasantly harsh or grating in sound; "a gravelly voice" grating, rasping, gravelly, scratchy, rough voice on, Adams hasn't sounded this alive since the '80s. Adams should remain a juvenile longer. It fits him. Three Stars SOURCE: - Howard Cohen cohen or kohen (Hebrew: “priest”) Jewish priest descended from Zadok (a descendant of Aaron), priest at the First Temple of Jerusalem. The biblical priesthood was hereditary and male. Me'Shell Ndegeocello/``Peace Beyond Passion'' Me'Shell NdegeOcello's surname means ``free like a bird'' in Swahili. Yet the first single on this CD, ``Leviticus: Faggot,'' is not quite so free to fly with mainstream radio. Despite a distinctive string arrangement by Paul Riser (Temptations' ``Papa Was a Rolling Stone''), which makes the tune readily commercial, programmers are balking balking, baulking see jibbing. at its potent examination of homophobia and have widely refused to air it. Apparently, we are being protected from a pointed plea for tolerance while those same stations have little qualms about airing a song depicting a sexual act label-mate Alanis Morissette performs in a theater. It's a pity, because the intelligent, calculation-free ``Peace Beyond Passion'' (Maverick/Reprise) deserves to be heard. Even more so than ``Plantation Lullabies,'' her 1993 debut, ``Peace'' merges religious imagery and sexuality but with funk/r&b/hip-hop arrangements that are more accessible and musical. Three Stars SOURCE: - Howard Cohen Cher/``It's a Man's World'' On Cher's first album in five years (she's back from the infomercial graveyard, it appears), she's taking chances again, ditching the commercially outdated Bon Jovi-styled rock of her last three CDs in favor of a slightly more modern pop approach. She's even singing in a previously untapped silky falsetto falsetto (fôlsĕt`tō) [Ital.,=diminutive of false], high-pitched, unnatural tones above the normal register of the male voice, produced, according to some theories, by the vibration of only the edges of the larynx. on the club-ready ``One by One.'' But even these attempts can't save ``It's a Man's World,'' a woefully woe·ful also wo·ful adj. 1. Affected by or full of woe; mournful. 2. Causing or involving woe. 3. Deplorably bad or wretched: inept collection of overproduced remakes of songs mostly popularized or written by men - Marc Cohn's ``Walking in Memphis,'' Don Henley's ``Not Enough Love in the World,'' the James Brown title track, etc. Awful, one and all, and lacking Cher's usual flair. She never once inhabits any of the songs, save a quietly affecting performance of ``The Gunman.'' The worst offender is an insultingly frivolous, danceable ``Paradise Is Here'' (to see how it should be sung, check out Tina Turner's 1986 version on her ``Break Every Rule'' CD). One Star SOURCE: - Howard Cohen Bardo Bardo blind antiquarian wrapped up in his scholarly annotations of the classics. [Br. Lit.: George Eliot Romola] See : Scholarliness Pond/``Amanita'' Want to get high without artificial means? Turn on the lava lamp, burn some incense, lie between the speakers and suck up some of this Philadelphia band's trippy, sensual, ambient rock on ``Amanita'' (Matador matador In bullfighting, the principal performer, who works the capes and attempts to dispatch the bull with a sword thrust between the shoulder blades. Most of the techniques used by modern matadors were established in the 1910s by Juan Belmonte (b. 1894–d. ). Atmosphere is everything - buzzing, sinewy sin·ew·y adj. 1. a. Consisting of or resembling sinews. b. Having many sinews; stringy and tough: a sinewy cut of beef. 2. Lean and muscular. See Synonyms at muscular. guitar lines meandering in bluesy/snake-charmer progressions with bass notes that blub v. t. & i. 1. To swell; to puff out, as with weeping. Verb 1. blub - cry or whine with snuffling; "Stop snivelling--you got yourself into this mess!" blubber, sniffle, snivel, snuffle like dripping water droplets, and with sleepy drum fills that induce a catatonic (jargon) catatonic - A description of a system that gives no indication that it is still working. This might be because it has crashed without being able to give any error message or because it is busy but not designed to give any feedback. Compare buzz. effect. All the while, moody singer Isabel Sollenberger wails faintly in the background 'bout not much in particular: ``Sometimes words fade away, sometimes I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. what to say,'' she confesses in her most cogent, coherent moment. Hey, this distracted space cadet makes the Cowboy Junkies' Margo Timmins seem like Ms. Gregarious. Fans of early Pink Floyd, Brian Eno and Dead Can Dance might appreciate this head-spinner, though for me the buzz wore off fast. Two Stars SOURCE: - Jonathan Takiff soundtracks Various/``Stealing Beauty'' Except for a midway double shot of funk and buzzing guitars (Stevie Wonder's ``Superstition,'' Liz Phair's ``Rocket Boy''), this movie disc (Capitol) prefers to keep the groove in second gear. Which is ultimately OK, because the low-key hooks come in the form of lovely Bristol noir (Portishead's ``Glory Box''), cool city blues (John Lee Hooker's ``Annie Mae'') and transcendent pop (Sam Phillips' ``I Need Love''). SOURCE: - Brian McCollum jazz Charlie Hunter Quartet/``Ready ... Set ... Shango!'' San Francisco guitarist Charlie Hunter takes a cool approach to soul jazz on this quartet recording (Blue Note). With his eight-string guitar, Hunter lays down steaming solos and ardent backup for tenor saxophonist Dave Ellis and alto saxophonist Calder Spanier. The CD kicks off with restrained intensity from drummer Scott Amendola on ``Ashby Man'' and ``Teabaggin','' and generates a lot of stylish heat - the kind you can shimmy or snuggle to. Unfortunately, the later tunes lack the punch of the openers. The closer Hunter and company stick to a happenin' soul vibe, the better off they are. Three Stars SOURCE: - Karl Stark CAPTION(S): 4 Photos Photo: (1) Despite its radio-friendly rhythms, the plain -speaking lyrics of Me'Shell Ndegeocello's plea for tolerance on the new ``Peace Beyond Passion'' CD are keeping it off the air. (2) On ``It's a Man's World,'' Cher takes possession of songs originally sung by men. (3) In its best moments, the Charlie Hunter Quartet's ``Ready ... Set ... Shango!'' generates a sort of stylish heat. (4) no caption (``Stealing Beauty'' soundtrack) |
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