SOUND CHECK.Ondar/``Back Tuva Future'' (Warner Bros BROS Brothers BROS Benefits and Retirement Operations Section (King County, Washington) BROS Barnes and Richmond Operatic Society (London, UK) .) I have no idea how to describe this music, but I like it a lot. It mixes a Tuvan throat singer - one of those Siberian denizens who can sing as many as four notes at once - with loping, catchy musical tracks, Western production values Production values is a media term for "production cost." It refers to the professional look, or "polish," of a production. Factors that affect perceived production value may include video and audio quality, lighting, number of errors, and amount and quality of special effects. and backing from guys like Willie Nelson and my favorite dead genius, physicist Richard Feynman. Turns out Feynman - the Caltech polymath pol·y·math n. A person of great or varied learning. [Greek polumath involved in both the Manhattan Project and the Challenger explosion investigation - was a huge fan of Tuvan throat singing from the 1930s on. Tapes of his chanting, drumming and singing are worked into most of the tracks behind Ondar's otherworldly singing. Though based on traditional Tuvan lyrics and melodies, this is modern, accessible folk and country music, way cooler than a Siberian stream in December. Three and one half stars. - David Bloom Various/``Japan: The Spirit of Water'' (Celestial Harmonies) This collection of eight songs based on traditional Japanese forms by five performers is as still and quiet as a meditation garden. Loosely based around water themes in Japanese-influenced music, it's the soundtrack for a tea ceremony of your own. Three stars - David Bloom Bobby Hutcherson/``Skyline'' (Verve) Vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson hasn't recorded much this decade, apparently preferring to concentrate on touring and recharging his creative batteries. ``Skyline,'' his first album in six years, marks a welcome return, full of energetic, passionate playing and a nice blend of styles. The Latin-tinged ``Pomponio'' finds Hutcherson doubling on vibes and marimba marimba: see xylophone. marimba Xylophone with resonators under each bar. The original African instrument uses tuned calabash resonators. In Mexico and Central America, where it was brought by African slaves, the wooden bars may be affixed to a ; the exciting results reminiscent of his excellent ``Ambos Mundos'' set of a decade ago. Elsewhere, there are beautiful ballads (``I Only Have Eyes for You'' and Herbie Hancock's ``Chan's Song'') and three intriguing originals, the best of which, ``Candle,'' features a sensuous duet between Hutcherson and pianist Geri Allen. Allen provides remarkable, intuitive support throughout this mostly mellow session, as does drummer Al Foster and everyone's favorite bassist (for good reason), Christian McBride. With music this good, we can only hope Hutcherson will return to the studio before another six years passes. Three and one half stars - Glenn Whipp Soundtrack/``Rushmore'' (London) This soundtrack goes for lesser-known numbers, like the Kinks' summery ``Nothing in the World Can Stop Me Worryin' About That Girl'' or Cat Stevens' poignant ``Here Comes My Baby'' (which comes from his early pop days, before he transformed himself into a 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. ). There's an innocence to all these songs, and a melodic precision, that's electrifying e·lec·tri·fy tr.v. e·lec·tri·fied, e·lec·tri·fy·ing, e·lec·tri·fies 1. To produce electric charge on or in (a conductor). 2. a. . The mood finds its perfect mirror in the adorable score from Mark Mothersbaugh (captured in eight incidental pieces). Everything from Mothersbaugh sounds miniaturized, animated and clean. Together with the pop ditties, they make this soundtrack sparkle. Three stars - Jim Farber New York Daily News New York Daily News Morning daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson and his cousin Robert McCormick as a subsidiary of the Tribune Co. of Chicago. The first successful tabloid-format newspaper in the U.S. Hi Fi Killers/``Jamaica'' (Loosegrooves) On the dance-hall dub of ``Jamaica,'' the duo of Kevin Oakland and Johnny Horn (son of L.A. session sax man Jim) get truly baldheaded bald·head n. 1. A person whose head is bald. Also called baldpate. 2. Any of several birds having white markings on the head. bald , recording in Kingston with Shabba Ranks engineer Anthony ``Solgie'' Hamilton and Upsetters singer Clinton ``Basie'' Fearon to create an authentically rickety rick·et·y adj. rick·et·i·er, rick·et·i·est 1. Likely to break or fall apart; shaky. 2. Feeble with age; infirm. 3. Of, having, or resembling rickets. doppelganger doppelgänger Psychiatry A delusion that a double of a person or place exists elsewhere; it is related to other defects in recognition and suggests organic disease in the nondominant parietal lobe. See Depersonalization disorder, Schizophrenia. . And a tangy one. They add little to the form - unlike Tortoise, who uses dub as a root to create magnetic ambient soundtracks, and Lauryn Hill, who employs reggae's rough-hewn soul to create a vibe. Even the Clash quietly punked up dub to better effect. But Hi Fi Killers make a lively, gutsy bit of noise. With a dense, dancey mix and Fearon's nasty macho roar on top of the tracks, ``Jamaica's'' a good place to be. Three stars - A.D. Amorosi Amorosi is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Benevento in the Italian region Campania, located about 45 km northeast of Naples and about 30 km northwest of Benevento. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 2,931 and an area of 11.0 km². Philadelphia Inquirer Bottle Rockets/``Leftovers'' (Doolittle Records) The lyrical milieu here never strays far from the Midwestern working class, whether it's the trucker anthem ``Coffee Monkee'' (``Got to have that hot black joe/drink about 10 cups in a row'') or a ballad about a town that can't keep from getting flooded (``Get Down River'').But the Bottle Rockets' most impressive moment arrives in ``My Own Cadillac,'' a gothic alterna-country anthem that sounds like Vanilla Fudge meeting Wilco. Its lyrics map out the ultimate white-trash dream (``I want to be drunk, stoned, famous and dead in the back of my own Cadillac''). Such a broad rank on ugly Americans proves inspiring in this band's hands for one reason: When it comes to their own bad taste, the Bottle Rockets have no shame. Three stars - Jim Farber Stan Getz Quartet with Chet Baker/``Quintessence quin·tes·sence n. 1. The pure, highly concentrated essence of a thing. 2. The purest or most typical instance: the quintessence of evil. 3. , Volume 1'' (Concord) When tenor saxophonist Stan Getz and trumpeter Chet Baker first recorded together in the mid-'50s, they were purveyors of melodic cool, good-looking young turks who relied as much on feeling as technique. But while Getz ended his career in majestic style, Baker was a ravished RAVISHED, pleadings. In indictments for rape, this technical word must be introduced, for no other word, nor any circumlocution, will answer the purpose. The defendant should be charged with having "feloniously ravished" the prosecutrix, or woman mentioned in the indictment. Bac. Ab. shadow of his former self, relying on personality to make up for lost chops. In this document of their final on-stage encounter, originally recorded for Norwegian radio in 1983 (with, as the title implies, more to come), Getz pushes Baker to make some of the best music of his last decade: He sings a pretty ``I'm Old Fashioned'' to open the set and holds his own with Getz in some phrase-trading on a lovely, lengthy ``Star Eyes.'' Still, he's a guest on this gig, with Getz and his quartet of the time, pianist Jim McNeely, bassist George Mraz and drummer Victor Lewis, doing the heavy lifting - with their inevitable soft touch. Three stars - Terry Lawson Detroit Free Press The Detroit Free Press is the largest daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, USA. It is sometimes informally referred to as the "Freep". Some still refer to it locally as "The Friendly" -- a slogan from an ad campaign in the '70s. Collective Soul/``Dosage'' (Atlantic) Don't come to Collective Soul's latest 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. stinging insight in Ed Roland's lyrics or probing depth in his vocals. All that may make the result sound a bit pat or shallow. But as an exercise in machinelike pop craft, this baby hums. Three stars - Jim Farber CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: no caption (Ondar) |
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