SOUND CHECK : ROCK.Pavement/``Brighten the Corners'' If ``Type Slowly,'' one of the nerdier gems on Pavement's new ``Brighten the Corners'' (Matador/Capitol) is any indication, the band's singer and guitarist, Stephen Malkmus Stephen Malkmus (born May 30, 1966 , Santa Monica, California, died October 20, 2007) was an indie rock musician and a former member of the band Pavement. Biography , has just about perfected his fragile approach to songwriting. It's a slow, elegant ballad with lyrics that free-associate wildly, but what makes it arresting is the musical accompaniment: The setting is a faint, sketchy outline, not a walloping production. Its harmonic sequence is built on the ascending diminished chords often found on '60s-era pop hits, and its vast spaces are filled by a laconic la·con·ic adj. Using or marked by the use of few words; terse or concise. See Synonyms at silent. [Latin Lac bass line and stray guitar melodies. The result is an airy, almost transparent masterpiece that forces Malkmus' unkempt voice to the forefront. He flies freely here, warbling out of his accustomed range with refreshing abandon. Malkmus can spin poetry like Lou Reed Lou Reed, born Lewis Allen Reed[1] March 2, 1942, is an American rock singer-songwriter and guitarist. Reed first found prominence as the guitarist and principal singer-songwriter of The Velvet Underground (1965-1973). , communicate gee-whiz wonderment at hearing himself on the stereo or delve into brooding singer-songwriter vulnerability. Remarkably, he never overplays the scenes. The mostly medium-tempo ``Brighten'' balances Pavement's appetite for power-chord clatter clat·ter v. clat·tered, clat·ter·ing, clat·ters v.intr. 1. To make a rattling sound. 2. To move with a rattling sound: clattering along on roller skates. with nuanced explorations of melody and dissonance. Sometimes, those extremes coexist in the same song (``Stereo''). Elsewhere, (``Type Slowly''), Malkmus' ruminations need no reinforcement: The languid, lingering atmospheres say it all. Four Stars ?13- Tom Moon Knight-Ridder Tribune News Wire Various/``Feel Like Makin' Love: Romantic Power Ballads'' Just in time for Valentine's Day Valentine's Day: see Saint Valentine's Day. Valentine's Day Lovers' holiday celebrated on February 14, the feast day of St. Valentine, one of two 3rd-century Roman martyrs of the same name. St. : a new three-disc series on Rhino compiled for women by women. The other two volumes are ``Country Lovin': Songs From the Heart'' and ``Soul Serenade serenade [Ital. sera=evening], term used to designate several types of musical composition. Opera and song literature yield numerous examples of the serenade sung or played by a lover at night beneath his beloved's window; outstanding is : Intimate R&B.'' Each includes at least 15 tracks selected to create the mood for a night of amour by Rhino's women staffers. The concept is great: Men have been hogging the turntable since the days when there were turntables. But the execution is confusing. Just when you think you know what women want from men, they let you look at their record collection. We're told that, as men, we should just be ourselves. No games, no acts, no macho posing. Sensitive and honest is good; strutting and posing is bad. Who struts and poses more than the shirtless, hay-for-hair members of Whitesnake, Skid Row skid row a run-down area frequented by alcoholics. [Am. Culture: Misc.] See : Alcoholism Skid Row district of down-and-outs and bums. [Am. Usage: Brewer Dictionary, 1008] See : Failure , Scorpions, Foreigner, Great White or Cinderella? These ``power ballads'' are nearly identical: a sensitive little acoustic guitar riff to open, and then a rising tide Noun 1. rising tide - the occurrence of incoming water (between a low tide and the following high tide); "a tide in the affairs of men which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune" -Shakespeare flood tide, flood of lust that ends with the flash pots spurting to the arena ceiling. The other two volumes suggest that if we can't be the screeching, spandexed Scarecrow Scarecrow goes to Wizard of Oz to get brains. [Am. Lit.: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz] See : Ignorance Scarecrow can’t live up to his name. [Am. Lit.: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz; Am. of Love, we ought to try either the Soulful Sex Machine or the Country Hunk Who Thinks With His Pitchfork. One Star ?13- Rick Shefchik Rick Shefchik [1] (born May 9, 1952) is an American novelist and journalist. He is the author of the novel Amen Corner, published March 9, 2007 by Poisoned Pen Press. Knight-Ridder Tribune News Wire Spice Girls/``Spice'' Pop music has always had room for lightweight fun, and the latest example is Spice Girls The Spice Girls are an English all-female pop group, formed in London in 1994. The Spice Girls, consisting of: Geri Halliwell, Melanie Chisholm, Emma Bunton, Melanie Brown, and Victoria Beckham signed to Virgin Records and released their debut single, "Wannabe", in 1996. , a high-energy, five-woman British vocal group. The group's debut, ``Spice'' (Virgin), is laden with unoriginal but well-crafted pop tunes. ``Wannabe,'' the first single, is a dizzy throwback throwback see atavism. to early '80s Brit-pop. ``Say You'll Be There'' features a nasty, P-Funk-style keyboard groove. ``Mama'' is a soaring, semi-acoustic ballad with a counter-melody lifted from the Tom Tom Club's dance hit, ``Genius of Love.'' The Spice Girls don't have anything new to say, but they make up for it with energy and enthusiasm. This is the capricious world of pop music, after all - and there is nothing wrong with having fun while your moment lasts. Two Stars ?13- Steve Volk Knight-Ridder Tribune News Wire Danko-Fjeld-Andersen/``Ridin' on the Blinds'' Rick Danko singing a Robbie Robertson ballad over accompaniment featuring Garth Hudson's trademark earthy-and-ethereal keyboards? ``Twilight'' isn't the only time ``Ridin' on the Blinds'' (Ryko) recalls the rustic grace of the Band. Nevertheless, the Canadian Danko, American folkie folk·ie also folk·y n. pl. folk·ies 1. A folk singer or musician. 2. One who is an enthusiast of folk music. adj. Eric Andersen and Norwegian singer-songwriter Jonas Fjeld fjeld n. A high barren plateau in the Scandinavian countries. [Danish, from Old Norse fjall.] fjeld A high, barren plateau. carve out their own soulful version of Americana on an album that, like their first, melds folk, blues, country and rock. This is a collaboration in the truest sense, with the trio sharing singing and songwriting duties (they also deliver tunes by the likes of Richard Thompson and Tom Paxton, in addition to Robertson). Danko, for one, displays a creative vitality long missing from his work with the glorified glo·ri·fy tr.v. glo·ri·fied, glo·ri·fy·ing, glo·ri·fies 1. To give glory, honor, or high praise to; exalt. 2. bar band that the Band has become. Three Stars ?13- Nick Cristiano Knight-Ridder Tribune News Wire country Kathy Mattea/``Love Travels'' Kathy Mattea has always walked her own path, and this quirky collection of thematic songs dealing with spirituality is no exception. She's also always had great ears for good songs and has gathered 11 gems here, from Jim Lauderdale's ``I'm on Your Side'' to Lionel Cartwright's ``If That's What You Call Love'' and Jerry Lynn Williams' ethereal ``Sending Me Angels.'' There are also two Gillian Welch songs on ``Love Travels'' (Mercury), including the current single, the rocking, insistent ``455 Rocket.'' Is it country? Is that even a viable question anymore? It's Kathy Mattea at her best, which is very good indeed. Four Stars ?13- Billboard Rosie Flores and Ray Campi/``A Little Bit of Heartache'' Ray Campi is a rockabilly pioneer and Rosie Flores is often compared to one - Wanda Jackson. For this winning collaboration, recorded in 1990 and not released until now, they go most often for a classic, fiddle-flavored country sound. The two singers display a sweet chemistry on such tracks as the Everly Brothers' ``All I Have to Do Is Dream'' and Ernest Tubb's ``Let's Say Goodbye Like We Said Hello.'' And while they sometimes hit a blue mood that lives up to the album's title, ``A Little Bit of Heartache'' (Watermelon watermelon, plant (Citrullus vulgaris) of the family Curcurbitaceae (gourd family) native to Africa and introduced to America by Africans transported as slaves. Watermelons are now extensively cultivated in the United States and are popular also in S Russia. ) is largely a high-spirited affair. ``I'm Gonna Wear the Pants'' is a Loretta Lynn-ish spoof of marital strife, ``There Ain't a Cow in Texas'' is one of a few playful, up-tempo showcases for Campi, and the two crank up the rockabilly on ``The Train Kept A-Rollin' '' and ``Living on Love.'' Flores Flores, town, Guatemala Flores (flōrəs), town (1990 est. pop. 2,200), capital of Petén department, N Guatemala. Flores was built on an island in the southern part of Lake Petén Itzá and on the site of the also offers a dead-on version of ``Crazy,'' and her blend of feistiness and vulnerability has rarely been as appealing as it is throughout this set, which picks up where her '87 debut left off. Three Stars ?13- Nick Cristiano CAPTION(S): 3 Photos Photo: (1) Eric Andersen, left, Rick Danko and Jonas Fjeld bring a mixture of folk, blues, country and rock to their second album together, ``Ridin' on the Blinds.'' (2) Kathy Mattea returns to the album racks with ``Love Travels.'' (3) On ``A Little Bit of Heartache,'' Rosie Flores joins rockabilly legend Ray Campi. |
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