SOUND CHECK : POP.Hootie & the Blowfish/``Fairweather Johnson'' Well-crafted, well-played, easy on the ear, vaguely familiar but resolutely nondescript non·de·script adj. Lacking distinctive qualities; having no individual character or form: "This expression gave temporary meaning to a set of features otherwise nondescript" , ``Fairweather Johnson'' (Atlantic) is a fine effort for a band that has made being ordinary a badge of honor. It is also an apt follow-up to Hootie's stunningly successful, 13-million-selling major label debut, ``Cracked Rear View.'' In ``Fairweather Johnson,'' the Hootsters revisit what is for them tried and true territory - a blend of mellow folk rock Folk rock is a musical genre, combining elements of folk music and rock music. In its earliest and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that arose in the United States and Canada around the mid-1960s. with singer Darius Rucker's sweet-and-gruff baritone providing an r&b tinge. And they go at it with newfound confidence and flair. There is a hint of updated Byrds (``Sad Caper''), earnest Band-style country-soul (``So Strange''), early Beatles-style sha-la-la harmonies (``Silly Little Pop Song''), catchy hooks (``She Crawls Away'') and a touch of reflection (``Tootie''). Those who begrudge be·grudge tr.v. be·grudged, be·grudg·ing, be·grudg·es 1. To envy the possession or enjoyment of: She begrudged him his youth. See Synonyms at envy. 2. Hootie's success miss the point. Pop music might celebrate daring and change, but it has always rewarded conformity. ``Fairweather Johnson'' is as much about reassurance as it is about moving forward. Three stars SOURCE: - Fernando Gonzalez SWV SWV Sisters With Voices (Singing Group) SWV Sisters With Voices (R&B Group) SWV Something Weird Video (DVD supplier) SWV Square Wave Voltammetry - Sisters With Voices/``New Beginning'' When a group bills itself as Sisters With Voices, it should have at least one voice that would make Aretha Franklin weep and refuse to sing again. Sadly, though, SWV doesn't even come close with the follow-up to its mega-selling debut, ``It's About Time It's About Time may refer to:
With the follow-up ``New Beginning'' (RCA See RCA connector and video/TV history. ), SWV - a k a Cheryl Gamble (Coko), Leanne Lyons (Lelee) and Tamara Johnson (Taj) - offers more of the same: midtempo dance grooves and lush ballads. And the group is nothing if not generous; there are 17 tracks, and the album clocks in at more than an hour. But the big differences are the vocal duties (Coko's not the sole focus anymore) and the material (not quite as distinctive). There's nothing as charming as ``Right Here'' or ``Weak,'' though a few tracks - ``Love Is So Amazin' '' and ``It's All About U,'' for example - have their moments. Overall, though, ``New Beginning'' never lives up to the promise of the group's name or its own title. Two stars SOURCE: - Cary Darling Los Lobos/``Colossal Head'' What a pleasant surprise to find Los Lobos, one of rock's most consistently satisfying acts, refusing to mellow with age or settle into a comfortable complacency. For ``Colossal Head'' (Warner Bros BROS Brothers BROS Benefits and Retirement Operations Section (King County, Washington) BROS Barnes and Richmond Operatic Society (London, UK) .) their first release since 1992's ``Kiko,'' is a work rife with risks and almost avant-garde inventiveness. ``Colossal Head'' is a successful search for common ground between the folk and blues foundation The Blues Foundation is an American nonprofit corporation headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee that is affiliated with more than 135 Blues organizations, and with a membership spanning some twenty countries. of ``Kiko'' and the piercing sonic assault of ``The Latin Playboys Latin Playboys is a musical group comprising David Hidalgo, Louie Pérez, Mitchell Froom and Tchad Blake, active in the 1990s. The band began with a series of demo recordings made by Hidaldo on a home cassette tape 4-track machine. ,'' a subsequent album by Los Lobos' songwriting team of David Hidalgo David Hidalgo (born October 6 1954, Los Angeles, California) is a singer-songwriter, best known for his work with the band Los Lobos. He is also a member of the supergroup Los Super Seven and of the Latin Playboys, a side project band made up of some of the members of Los Lobos. and Louis Perez. Like many of the best bands in rock's rich history, Los Lobos clearly has decided that remaining within the niche the band carved just can't remain satisfying for very long. And, on ``Colossal Head,'' it sounds like a restlessly creative group that wants to stretch out and surprise its listeners, even at the risk of alienating some of its longtime fans. Although this isn't the best work of the band's career, Los Lobos' guts and imagination are still awe-inspiring. Three stars SOURCE: - Rob Hubbard Roseanne Cash/``10 Song Demo'' There's truth-in-titling on Rosanne Cash's Capitol debut, even if this spare slice-of-inner-life contains 11 songs. These work tapes are a companion piece to ``Interiors,'' Cash's 1990 kiss-off to country stardom, which put her marriage to then-husband Rodney Crowell under the microscope. ``10 Song Demo'' - whose fully formed, minimally adorned compositions were co-produced by current husband John Leventhal - takes a similarly close look at Cash's emotional being, but it's not so tortuous. The album examines a woman's uncertain entry into middle age with honesty and grace. Cash occasionally falls prey to literary preciousness, but when her luminous, bittersweet bittersweet, name for two unrelated plants, belonging to different families, both fall-fruiting woody vines sometimes cultivated for their decorative scarlet berries. voice sings lines such as ``There's a danger in this love, and I want to be that brave,'' Cash sounds alive and ready for the risk. Three stars SOURCE: - Dan DeLuca jazz Joe Sample/``Old Places, Old Faces'' At its core, this is a trio recording by pianist Joe Sample, bassist Jay Anderson and either Lenny Castro or Ralph Penland on drums. Tenor saxophonist Charles Lloyd appears for occasional breathy breath·y adj. breath·i·er, breath·i·est Marked by or as if by audible or noisy breathing: a breathy voice. breath blowing, and guitarist Dean Parks is trotted out for some accents, but the focus of ``Old Places, Old Faces'' (Warner) is on the gray-haired Sample, who plays handsome melodies and makes pungent comments over slow, rocking vamps that touch a deep place. Sample was one of the original Jazz Crusaders, and remains imbued with their soulful slamming. Yet there's a rich acoustic restraint here. Sample's concept is not remotely avant-garde. Rather, it's a clinic on how to use melodic hooks and repeating bass lines that direct attention to ardent solos.Some numbers tend toward schmaltz schmaltz also schmalz n. 1. Informal a. Excessively sentimental art or music. b. Maudlin sentimentality. 2. Liquid fat, especially chicken fat. , but, overall, the parts serve the subtle, crackling vibe. As usual, Sample gives boogying a good name. Four stars SOURCE: - Karl Stark country Robert Earl Keen/``No. 2 Live Dinner'' Robert Earl Keen's final offering for Sugar Hill records - he's moving on to a major-label deal with Arista arista (ä·riˑ·st Texas - is an in-concert work that plays nicely to his strengths, while throwing in two new songs worth savoring (``I'm Going to Town'' and ``Where the Bluebonnets Grow''). As story-telling Texas songwriters go, Keen is among the elite, and the comic spoken intros to ``The Road Goes on Forever'' and ``Mariano'' capture his good-old hombre charm. Keen is well-acquainted with his dark side (``Dreadful Selfish Crime'') and remains a vocally challenged singer. But ``No. 2 Live Dinner'' makes it clear how far top-flight songs, a swinging band and a biting sense of humor Noun 1. sense of humor - the trait of appreciating (and being able to express) the humorous; "she didn't appreciate my humor"; "you can't survive in the army without a sense of humor" sense of humour, humor, humour can take you. Nearly all the way there. Three stars SOURCE: - Dan DeLuca'' CAPTION(S): 2 Photos Photo: (1) Hootie & the Blowfish's ``Fairweather Johnson '' is a fine effort for a band - Dean Felber, left, Jim Sonefeld, Darius Rucker and Mark Bryan - that has made being ordinary a badge of honor. (2) ``New Beginning'' never lives up to the promise of Sisters With Voices - Taj, left, Lelee and Coko - or its own title. |
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