SOUND CHECK.EELS ``Soundjacker'' (DreamWorks) Three stars COULD THIS BE an ode to the stars of teen-age horror flicks? Well, vocalist E (aka Mark Oliver Mark Oliver is a voice actor who who works for Ocean Studios in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. He has played several roles in anime, most notably Rau Le Creuset in Gundam SEED. Everett) does bark out ``life ain't pretty for a dog faced boy'' during the album's opening track. The Eels lapse in and out of such sinister grooves as ``Dog Faced Boy,'' ``Souljacker'' parts 1 and 2 and ``Bus Stop Boxer'' with a heavy dose of distortion, chaotic harmonies and vintage electric pianos. But amid this raucous tongue-in- cheek 12-song set are moments of real beauty, too: orchestral strings that weave through hip-hop beats on the romantically gushing gush v. gushed, gush·ing, gush·es v.intr. 1. To flow forth suddenly in great volume: water gushing from a hydrant. 2. ``Fresh Feeling'' and the techno-folkie minimalism minimalism, schools of contemporary art and music, with their origins in the 1960s, that have emphasized simplicity and objectivity. Minimalism in the Visual Arts of ``Woman Driving Man Sleeping.'' A limited number of the Eels' new albums also come with the bonus disc ``Rotten World Blues.'' - Sandra Barrera VARIOUS ARTISTS ``Evangeline Made: A Tribute to Cajun Music'' (Vanguard) Three and one half stars Bayou music scholar and practitioner Ann Savoy Ann Savoy (born Ann Allen, January 20, 1952 in St. Louis, Missouri) is a musician, author, and record producer. She was raised in Richmond, Virginia and resides with her husband Marc Savoy and family in Southern Louisiana. gathered a diverse assembly of Anglophonic folk types (Linda Ronstadt, John Fogerty, Richard Thompson, David Johansen, Maria McKee . . .), taught 'em some French, hooked them up with the finest squeezebox squeeze·box n. An accordion. bands in Louisiana and . . . Well, it's hardly surprising that this resulting collection of Creole classics sounds tres pretty, whether you understand what they're singing about or not. Although most of the cuts foreground Cajun's fiddle-and-accordian fundamentals, a wide range of tones, from blues to zydeco zydeco (zī`dĭkō'), American musical form originating among the African-American Creoles of Louisiana. Drawing on elements of traditional Cajun music as well as jazz, country and western, and blues, it is characterized by French lyrics, jazz to choirlike balladry bal·lad·ry n. Ballads considered as a group. , make for a pleasingly varied sonic experience. - Bob Strauss N*E*R*D: ``In Search of ...'' (Virgin) Two and one half stars Hot songwriting/producing duo Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, (aka the Neptunes), who gave bands like 'N Sync, Britney Spears, Mystikal and Jay-Z their bounce-wit-me flava, step in front of the mic for their debut as N*E*R*D. But what exactly they are ``In Search Of..."" remains to be seen. The 12 track disc starts off with ``Lap Dance,'' a song that appropriately enough gyrates and teases the senses with the hip-hop-rock combination of beats and edgy sonic stimuli that made the team last year's go-to guys of the music industry. But somewhere around the fourth track, the Neptunes go off into outer space, losing steam along the way. - Heather Wood MANDALAY: ``Solace'' (Vanguard) Two and one half stars If you're looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. some company to go with your misery, Mandalay's ``Solace'' is the perfect companion. This UK-based duo features the fraught, shivery shiv·er·y 1 adj. 1. Trembling, as from cold or fear. 2. Causing shivers; chilling. Adj. 1. vocals of Nicola Hitchcock and the layered musical textures of Saul Freeman. Think similarities to Cocteau Twins and Portishead. Including tracks from the team's previous two UK albums, 1998's ``Empathy'' and 2000's ``Instinct,'' the first disc of this double-CD, U.S. debut encapsulates the group's enthralling en·thrall tr.v. en·thralled, en·thrall·ing, en·thralls 1. To hold spellbound; captivate: The magic show enthralled the audience. 2. To enslave. , dreamy and often heart-wrenching songs (``Not Seventeen,'' ``Not Her'' and ``This Life''). The second disc is chock full of dance-floor remixes, including Victor Calderone's sensual and seductive ``after hour mix'' of ``Beautiful.'' Name-dropping moment - Madonna has called Mandalay her favorite new band. -Phillip Zonkel SHARISSA: ``No Half Steppin' '' (Motown) One star Somebody did Sharissa wrong. For most of her debut album, the Bronx-born singer (coming from the Mary J. Blige school of hip-hop-flavored r&b) seeks vengeance on former lovers who cheated (``No Half Steppin' ''), lied (``All These Years'') and cheated (``Dun Put Up Too Long''). The ting ting n. A single light metallic sound, as of a small bell. intr.v. tinged , ting·ing, tings To give forth a light metallic sound. her own revenge on ``Wrong Time,'' a song that asks, ``What's a girl to do when she's lonely?'' What, indeed? While Sharissa's voice is just as good as any other female in the r&b Top 10 (where her album debuted; all praise to hype), she executes her tired tales with all the musical flair of a flavor- of-the-moment club hit. - H.W. CAPTION(S): 5 photos Photo: (1) no caption (EELS) (2 -- 5) no caption (CD covers) |
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