SOUND CHECK.For ethnomusicologists, Bjork's new album could be an object of study for years to come. It's almost entirely composed of voices - hers and guests', including human beat boxes, a throat-singer and two choirs - mewing, wailing, gasping and creating other primitive sounds over percussive per·cus·sive adj. Of, relating to, or characterized by percussion. per·cus  sive·ly adv. beats. On ``Where Is the Line With You,'' backed by the stark Icelandic Choir, she changes the cadence of her pauses: ``Where is the line with you. Where is the. Line. With you.'' And her plaintive plain·tive adj. Expressing sorrow; mournful or melancholy. [Middle English plaintif, from Old French, aggrieved, lamenting, from plaint, complaint; see plaint. voice drifts like falling snow over ``Vakuro,'' which translates to ``Vigil.'' Bjork has said that the album is her response to the events of Sept. 11, which influence lines like ``I need a shelter to build an altar away from all Osamas and Bushes'' on the track ``Mouth's Cradle.'' But the album is also a return to the time ``before civilizations and cultures crashed,'' as she recently told 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 Times. It is elemental - fire, earth, air and water as on the primordial track ``Oceania,'' which was commissioned by and performed at the opening ceremony for the Athens Olympic Games Olympic games, premier athletic meeting of ancient Greece, and, in modern times, series of international sports contests. The Olympics of Ancient Greece Although records cannot verify games earlier than 776 B.C. . And yet despite the album's idiosyncrasies and unpredictability, you still might want to build a bonfire and dance to it. - Sandra Barrera BILL FRISELL: ``Unspeakable'' (Nonesuch none·such also non·such n. 1. A person or thing without equal. 2. See black medic. none ) - Four stars Frisell saved the day at last January's deadly Randy Newman tribute (sans Newman) at Royce Hall, anchoring a funky rhythm section and running down taut blues licks and witty syncopation syncopation (sĭng'kəpā`shən, sĭn'–) [New Gr.,=cut off ], in music, the accentuation of a beat that normally would be weak according to the rhythmic division of the measure. . For ``Unspeakable,'' his 19th record on Nonesuch, the ingenious genre-free guitarist returns to that night's loose grooves in collaboration with producer Hal Willner. It's a stirring soul-based set taking in loops and found fragments but focusing tightly on rhythm and off-the-wall accents. In 14 richly crafted tracks, Frisell calls forth a seemingly deranged de·range tr.v. de·ranged, de·rang·ing, de·rang·es 1. To disturb the order or arrangement of. 2. To upset the normal condition or functioning of. 3. To disturb mentally; make insane. instrumental lineup with consistently compelling results. - Fred Shuster VON FREEMAN: ``The Great Divide'' (Premonition) - Three stars As he approaches his 82nd birthday, tenor saxophonist Freeman isn't slowing down. If anything, he's getting even better at his craft. And who can't dig that? His latest effort finds him paying tribute to fellow tenors Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young and Charlie Parker. Given the differences of those tenors when they approached a song, this albun has a wide variety of sounds, veering between soulful power and cerebral cool. Freeman plays with fire in his belly. If you can't see him in Chicago, this is the next best thing. - Glenn Whipp BILLY JOE SHAVER: ``Billy and the Kid'' (Compadre com·pa·dre n. Chiefly Southwestern U.S. A close friend or associate; a companion. [Spanish, joint father, godfather, friend, from Medieval Latin compater, ) - Three stars Outlaw country legend Shaver - he's the hard-living, born again writer of such classics as ``Ride Me Down Easy'' and ``You Asked Me To'' - lost his guitar-slingin' son, Eddy, to a heroin overdose on the eve On the Eve (Накануне in Russian) is the third novel by famous Russian writer Ivan Turgenev, best known for his short stories and the novel Fathers and Sons. of the millennium. He's been mourning Eddy musically ever since, and this particular act of closure involves the father completing several tracks the son was working on at the time of his death, as well as a few of Eddy's unreleased recordings and Billy Joe's own crusty, elegiac el·e·gi·ac adj. 1. Of, relating to, or involving elegy or mourning or expressing sorrow for that which is irrecoverably past: an elegiac lament for youthful ideals. 2. composition ``Fame.'' That cut aside, it's a hard-rock album, but one infused with a cross-generational, tougher-than-leather love that is unmistakably Shaver all the way. - Bob Strauss BONGA: ``Kaxexe'' (Times Square) - Three stars Cesaria Evora aficionados will dig Bonga. An ex-athlete turned soul rebel, the dramatic Angolan singer was forced into exile by his country's leaders decades ago. But even dictators couldn't silence his aching growl. On ``Kaxexe'' (``In Hiding''), he sings in Portuguese and French, and even English-only types will feel the mournfulness mourn·ful adj. 1. Feeling or expressing sorrow or grief; sorrowful. 2. Causing or suggesting sadness or melancholy: the mournful sound of a train whistle. in the lush creations here. However, it's not all tears and lamentations; Bonga has a handful of upbeat, high-energy tracks wrapped in acoustic guitars, percussion and accordion that hit their mark. - Phillip Zonkel CAPTION(S): 6 photos Photo: (1) BJORK ``Medulla'' (Elektra) - Four stars Associated Press (2 -- 6) no caption (CD covers) |
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