SOUND CHECK.Nas/``Stillmatic'' (Columbia)Those who care about such things consider Nasir Jones among the best and smoothest hard-core rappers. His stories of life in New York's projects, delivered with practiced ambivalence, rank at the top of an extremely large heap. If jailhouse culture is at the essence of hip-hop, Nas is one of its griots, portraying and glorifying life as a hustler and illiterate drug runner as if there were no alternatives. ``Stillmatic,'' Jones' fifth album, continues in the bragging Mafioso vein, detailing shootouts, living large and rolling in cash while making incoherent pronouncements about today's political climate. Hilariously one-dimensional and insipid on such tracks as ``Ether'' and ``Rewind,'' Nas has nothing very illuminating or original to say about much of anything here. In an attempt to have it both ways, he predictably tempers his bloody street melodramas with a calculated stop-the-violence message. ``Hey, I don't like this stuff anymore than you do,'' he suggests as he fills his pockets. Musically, Nas' posse of producers rustle up rustle up Verb Informal to prepare or find at short notice: Bob rustled up a meal familiar beats and samples, even copping A3's ``Sopranos'' theme on ``Got Ur Self a ...'' This album feels like the last vestiges of a waning trend. Or is that merely wishful thinking wishful thinking Psychology Dereitic thought that a thing or event should have a specified outcome ? One star - Fred Shuster Jon Chandler/``Westerns'' (Writer's Ranch) Fourth-generation Colorado cowboy, poet and novelist Chandler emerges as the best western songsmith song·smith n. See songwriter. since Ian Tyson on this incredibly diverse and accomplished set of trail tales. From tender love ballads and wistful homefire longings to wild wails of frontier dysfunction and a blisteringly personal criticism of the oft-idealized Jesse James, Chandler's lovingly crafted songs cover a wide territory of moods and subgenres. There are even a couple of unique, terrific Christmas tunes, making this the perfect last-minute gift for all the buckaroos on your list. Four stars - Bob Strauss Lindsay Pagano/``Love&Faith&Inspiration'' (Warner Bros BROS Brothers BROS Benefits and Retirement Operations Section (King County, Washington) BROS Barnes and Richmond Operatic Society (London, UK) .) How's this for a first? After Sir Paul McCartney overheard this 15-year-old Philly native working on her debut album at A&M Studios in Hollywood, he suggested Pagano remake his tender 1983 ballad ``So Bad.'' Her dynamic vocals soar on Paul's tune, as they also do on such highlights as ``Everything U R,'' ``Amazing High'' and ``Burning in Me.'' Truly an impressive first with or without an ex-Beatle's friendly advice. Three stars - Sandra Barrera Wu-Tang Clan/``Wu-Tang Iron Flag'' (Loud/Columbia) Who says this absurd rap entourage has no sole? The big news from Wu-Tang Clan's fourth long-player is the New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of gangster rhyme syndicate has moved into footwear. After hawking a Wu-Tang video game, clothing and accessories, the group that spends more time in court than on stage is now hyping a shoe line. Maybe there's a subtle message here: Shoes not shots. No such luck. The usual cops and robbers populate much of ``Wu-Tang Iron Flag.'' Still, the disc attempts to creep away from the tattered beats and ragged samples of a musically bankrupt genre. Using sometimes jarring atonal a·ton·al adj. Music Lacking a tonal center or key; characterized by atonality. a·ton  al·ly adv. horn splices and noise collages, as well as spoken word, flute, African percussion and the usual gunshots and sirens, tracks such as ``Uzi (Pinky Ring),'' ``Soul Power (Black Jungle)'' and ``In the Hood'' represent one small step for mankind. Two stars - F.S. Ralph Stanley & Friends/``Clinch Mountain Sweethearts'' (Rebel) Bluegrass' reigning eminence got all his girlfriends together for this sequel to the landmark ``Clinch Mountain Country'' collection, and it's a sweet rendezvous indeed. Dr. Ralph's sepulchral se·pul·chral adj. 1. Of or relating to a burial vault or a receptacle for sacred relics. 2. Suggestive of the grave; funereal. se·pul high lonesome lone·some adj. 1. a. Dejected because of a lack of companionship. See Synonyms at alone. b. Producing such dejection: a lonesome hour at the bar. 2. harmonizes beautifully with such diverse-sounding duet partners as Iris DeMent de·ment tr.v. de·ment·ed, de·ment·ing, de·ments 1. To make (a person) insane. 2. To cause (a person) to lose intellectual capacity. , Dolly Parton par·ton n. Any of the point particles believed to be a constituent of hadrons, now known as quarks. No longer in technical use. [part(icle) + -on1.] , Maria Muldaur, Joan Baez and Melba Montgomery, among others. Perhaps most interesting is the umpteenth take on ``O Brother'' favorite ``Oh, Death'' with the appropriately chosen Gillian Welch; to hear Stanley breathe inventive new life into this over-recorded dirge dirge n. 1. Music a. A funeral hymn or lament. b. A slow, mournful musical composition. 2. A mournful or elegiac poem or other literary work. 3. is to know why all the gals still love him. Four stars - B.S. CAPTION(S): 5 photos Photo: (1) no caption (Nas) (2 -- 5) no caption (CD covers) |
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