__ Music Reviews __
Glenn Branca
Symphony No. 9
(L'eve Future)
Point Music
Branca's works have always been about texture - an aural exploration of color and form. His earlier pieces, with their dense and pulsating metallic walls of sound, caused some to find his music too brutal. That perception may soon change. Here, Branca has redefined his style while keeping true to his musical vision. Recorded by the Polish Radio National Symphony Orchestra with a classical vocal ensemble, the sound is soft, almost ambient, yet a subterranean tension lurks, recalling muscles knotted beneath smooth skin. Branca's best piece yet. - Richard Kadrey�
Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela
Music of Manuel de Falla
Dorian Recordings
In the early 20th century, Spanish composer Manuel de Falla was part of a Parisian circle of musical greats that included Debussy, Ravel, and Stravinsky. In addition to de Falla's well-known El Amor Brujo and dances from The Three-Cornered Hat, this disc also contains the seldom-heard but wonderful Seven Popular Spanish Songs and Homenajes. Sultry Colombian mezzo-soprano Marta Senn sings passionately through-out, and the late Eduardo Mata conducts with warmth and energy. - Bryan Higgins�
Courtney Pine
Modern Day Jazz Stories
Antilles/The Verve Group
The term modern has been a positive description of jazz since the bebop era. Yet, in reference to British saxophonist Courtney Pine, the allusion consists of little more than tasteless hip hop-esque sounds. Fortunately, these riffs are mixed far into the background, thereby saving this release from self-destruction. Fact is, it's just too strong a session to be subdued:
Pine is at his absolute best on these sides, blowing hard-core references to Coltrane in each note of every modal, militant, postmodern composition. - James Rozzi�
Mojave 3
Ask Me Tomorrow
4AD
Carrying on in the grand tradition of Mazzy Star and all sounds depressing, Mojave 3 relies on sparse instrumentation (mostly stark guitar) and vocals to carry its message. Themes center on love either lost or lasting, with neither situation, according to the lyrics, ever being quite right. Lazy, back-porch drawls hit a sweet, melancholy harmony that draws your heart toward them. For those who want to look on the bright side, this one's not recommended ... unless, of course, you're out to find someone worse off than you. - Tamara Palmer�
Various Artists
Hollerin'
Rounder Records
The hollerin' of white mountain folk, like the field hollers and work songs of their rural black cousins, once served an important function. Farmers and herders separated by long distances communicated with one another and called their livestock by using high-pitched, musical shouts that sometimes evolved into songs. At other times, the hollers were wordless, hair-raising expressions that could sound like bagpipes, a wounded beast, or some mutant, humanoid life form.
Since 1969, traditional hollerers have competed for the crown of the National Hollerin' Contest in Spivey's Corner, North Carolina. This disc was recorded live during the 1975 and 1976 competitions. Most of the participants are elderly men - the last practitioners of this soon-to-be-lost folk art - who frequently illuminate their performances with anecdotes about the girls they courted, the local disasters they survived, or the hard jobs that shaped their lives. The variety of expression is mind-boggling: from Leonard Emanuel's rudimentary folk songs and odd, old-timey yodeling hollers ("Hollerin' is different from yodeling or callin' hogs," Emanuel points out) to O. B. Jackson's "Lonesome Valley" - a wordless religious hymn of great power and beauty.
The similarity between the vocal style of these Southern mountain folk and the timbral, multi-octave throat singing of Central Asian Tuvan singers - who also hail from inhospitable high country - is uncanny. Is it something in the rarefied air - produced by the long, meditative hours spent on barren hillsides with only animals and an echo for company - that brings forth these lonesome wails of unearthly beauty? Might these vocal traditions be emblematic of an invisible thread that binds us all together? There is much to ponder as you listen to these pure expressions of human pain, joy, and ecstasy.
Mose Fan Fan and Somo Somo Ngobila
Hello Hello
Stern's Music
The elders of rumba rock have finally returned to soukous. The intermeshing guitars of Syran Mbenza and Bopol Mansiamina, accompanied by the sweet harmonies of Wuta Mayi and Nyboma, augment a front line of Mose Fan Fan on lead guitar and vocalists Sam Mangwana and Youlou Mabiala. Esby Bambi's sax proves that nobody needs cheesy synth fills, and the rock-solid drumming of Kumba Below Mafwala keeps the beat ticking. The root of soukous is the French secouer, "to shake." This lineup does that, to the core. - Dr. Rhythm�
Nightmares on Wax
Smokers Delight
Wax Trax!/TVT
Apart from the title's heavy-handed herbal reference, Nightmares on Wax's new LP is surprisingly subtle. Long gone are the days of the band's bleep-blop techno assault: their remodeled sound is a bold move beyond the stagnating trip-hop scene they are unfortunately lumped in with. Smokers Delight is an extra-smooth brew of sci-fi dub, old-school hip hop jams, and porno-flick funk. Nightmares hijacks familiar musical elements, inhales deeply, and produces classic late-night soundtracks brimming with chilled grooves.
Various Artists
Screwed: Al Goldstein and the American Sex Industry
Amphetamine Reptile
Like their sentient celluloid counterparts, these low-budget, up-lit porn stars of song capture the ridiculous rapture and immediate gratification fueling the skin trade as profiled in Alex Crawford's seamy documentary. From the cum-shot guitar skronk of Boss Hog's "Black Throat" through the slithery lounge swing of Melvins' "I Like Porn" to the splashy effusion of Guv'ner's "Coitus City," this soundtrack seethes with sleaze and humor. Discreetly packaged, this disc of underworld superstars can be our little secret.
Various Artists
Planet Squeezebox
Ellipsis Arts...
You're not the only one who wants to murder the accordion player. As Honore Daumier once said, "We do not yet have the right to kill the people who play this instrument, but there is hope that we will soon get it." Here lies ample motive: traditional zydeco, tango, and township jive evoke an involuntary dance response, while artists such as Astor Piazzolla produce a nuevo tango that is the sum of tragedy, comedy, and whorehouse twang. Beware: this three-disc set could change your mind about accordion music. Alternately, it has great potential for aural revenge.
Microwave o' the Month
Blondie: The Remix Project
Remixed Remade Remodeled
Breaking in my brand-new Discman, I gave a virgin spin to Blondie's latest cash cow. Big mistake. And the latest in personal stereo technology only made the nightmare worse.
