SOUND CHECK.WILCO: ``A Ghost Is Born'' (Nonesuch none·such also non·such n. 1. A person or thing without equal. 2. See black medic. none ) - Three stars If it's immediate accessibility you're after, get a Motown compilation instead. Wilco's fifth album is one you'll have to live with before its patchouli-scented pleasures are revealed. A slow-motion slalom through various genres, the carefully crafted, sometimes deeply dull effort at once recalls peak-era R.E.M., early Neil Young and the long line of introverted in·tro·vert·ed adj. Marked by interest in or preoccupation with oneself or one's own thoughts as opposed to others or the environment. singer-songwriters who release a single five-song album before retreating to a cozy existence as a mail sorter. Wilco leader Jeff Tweedy, though, clearly wants to rule the post office. With ``A Ghost Is Born,'' which extends the blurred sonic landscape and lyrical pipe dreams of '02's much-praised ``Yankee Hotel Foxtrot foxtrot one of the two artificial gaits of the five-gaited horse. A four-beat gait midway in speed between a walk and a trot. There is a great deal of similarity with several other gaits such as amble, fadge, slow pace, stepping pace, running walk, jog, hound jog. ,'' the group stumbles upon something close to a signature style. The victories - ``Hell Is Chrome,'' ``At Least That's What You Said,'' ``Muzzle of Bees'' - are indeed ghostly laments seemingly held together by mere threads. Meanwhile, you can only hope failed gambits like the 15-minute-long ``Less Than You Think,'' which devolves into deadly static hum, aren't hints of what lies ahead. In stores Tuesday. - Fred Shuster DONNY HATHAWAY Donny Hathaway (October 1, 1945 – January 13, 1979) was an American soul musician. He signed with Atlantic Records in 1969, and with his first single "The Ghetto, Part I" (1970), Rolling Stone magazine "marked him as a major new force in soul music. : ``These Songs for You, Live'' (Atlantic/Rhino) - Four stars Hathaway, a suicide at age 33 in 1979, has two live albums in his catalog, but both have long been available only as German imports. This long-overdue collection combines the best cuts from those two albums with some incredibly powerful unreleased tracks, giving Hathaway fans and anyone with even a passing interest in great soul singing a reason to celebrate. Hathaway was as talented and inventive an arranger as he was a singer and could take any song and make it his own. If you're a fan, you know what he did with Marvin Gaye's ``What's Goin' On'' and Leon Russell's ``A Song for You.'' Heard here for the first time, though, are two other covers, chillingly beautiful versions of the Beatles' ``Yesterday'' and Stevie Wonder's ``Superwoman su·per·wom·an n. 1. A woman who performs all the duties typically associated with several different full-time roles, such as wage earner, graduate student, mother, and wife. 2. A woman with more than human powers. .'' Hathaway's influence over today's neo-soul singers remains profound. This superlative set, featuring beautiful session work from the always-welcome Cornell Dupree, Phil Upchurch and Jerry Jemmott, shows why. - Glenn Whipp DJ ABEL Abel, son of Adam and Eve, in the Bible Abel, in the Bible, son of Adam and Eve, a shepherd, killed by his older brother, Cain; in the Gospel of St. Matthew, mentioned as the first martyr. : ``Alegria'' (Tommy Boy) - Three stars If you're in the mood for an evening of hip-swaying tribal-house beats, then get your cha-cha heels on. With this effort, Miami's superstar spinner Abel Aguilera brings the famed ``Alegria'' dance parties from New York's Crobar to your bar. On disc one, titled ``Peak Hour Set,'' Aguilera fuses a mix of commercial and semi-underground tracks to get the party started. Several remixes are credited to Rosabel (the production moniker (1) A name, title or alias. See alias. (2) A COM object that is used to create instances of other objects. Monikers save programmers time when coding various types of COM-based functions such as linking one document to another (OLE). See COM and OLE. used by Aguilera and Ralphi Rosario), including the current club smash ``Cha Cha Heels.'' But ``Wicked Fortress,'' with its contagious beats and churning groove, is an instant standout. Disc two, titled ``After Hour Set,'' goes dark and dirty with moody dubs and chants. ``Mobe Do,'' ``Discoteca'' and an unreleased version of ``That Sound'' make for succulent ear candy. DJ Abel spins Saturday at the Factory in West Hollywood. - Phillip Zonkel JOAO GILBERTO: ``In Tokyo'' (Verve) - Three and one half stars For those who suffered through the poor acoustics that plagued Gilberto's much-anticipated Hollywood Bowl concert last summer, this is something of a consolation prize, offering evidence of what the show might have sounded like under the best of circumstances. It'sjust the great Brazilian master's voice and guitar, 70 minutes of classics like ``Corcovado'' and ``Wave,'' along with a handful of lesser-known gems. The sound is warm and intimate, the playing subtle and moving. A one-of-a-kind document. - G.W. JOSH WILLIAMS: ``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. Highway'' (Pinecastle) - Four stars Williams brings an unusually rich and sophisticated vocal range to the bluegrass bluegrass, any species of the large and widely distributed genus Poa, chiefly range and pasture grasses of economic importance in temperate and cool regions. In general, bluegrasses are perennial with fine-leaved foliage that is bluish green in some species. field with this eclectic selection of semi-classic and more- contemporary tunes. His voice is a honeyed hon·eyed v. A past tense and a past participle of honey. adj. also hon·ied 1. Containing, full of, or sweetened with honey. 2. Ingratiating; sugary: honeyed words. , ready-for-Nashville-radio instrument that smoothly straddles the tenor/baritone line, full of emotion but never overwrought o·ver·wrought adj. 1. Excessively nervous or excited; agitated. 2. Extremely elaborate or ornate; overdone: overwrought prose style. . Oh, and he's a dang fine musician, too, always happy to display his versatile virtuosity on guitar, banjo banjo, stringed musical instrument, with a body resembling a tambourine. The banjo consists of a hoop over which a skin membrane is stretched; it has a long, often fretted neck and four to nine strings, which are plucked with a pick or the fingers. and mandola (Williams also plays with Rhonda Vincent's crack outfit, the Rage). At only 23, he's delivered one of the best bluegrass albums of the year. - Bob Strauss CAPTION(S): 6 photos Photo: (1) no caption (WILCO) (2 -- 6) no caption (CD covers) |
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