LISTENING ROOM

 

RYAN ADAMS
Demolition [Lost Highway]

A batch of demo recordings, Demolition is a stopgap album while Ryan Adams has started work on the proper follow-up to last year’s Gold. The songs here are culled from five different sessions - a full-length album 48 Hours, recorded (dated around mid-2001) over a weekend with producer Ethan Johns; tracks done with his road band the Pink Hearts (December 2000); some Nashville sessions that produced songs that would have made up another "lost" album, Suicide Handbook (January 2001) and the odd track recorded in Stockholm.

Hence, these 13 songs are marked as the favorites picked by Carrie Hamilton, a close friend of Adams who recently died of cancer. Her death hangs over Demolition, with much of these songs closer in spirit to the emotional devastation of his solo debut Heartbreaker (2000) than the songs on the more dynamic Gold. Dear Chicago from the Nashville sessions, a song actually planned to be included on Heartbreaker, is especially infused with the pain of a broken relationship, sparsely recorded with fading echoes of acoustic guitars and Adams’ final plaintive refrains "I think I've fallen out of love with you."

The gloom ensues in tracks like She Wants To Play Hearts and Tomorrow (co-written with Hamilton) takes on the same desolate ambience, recorded in a tattered makeshift fashion but still sounding remarkably polished enough to make one question these songs’ demo status.

Included here are also two songs recorded with the Pink Hearts (Gimme A Sign and Starting To Hurt) that sound rather like straight punk numbers, slowed down enough to resemble the Replacements circa Don't Tell A Soul. Not surprisingly the three tracks helmed by the talented producer Ethan Johns are most impressive. The flighty country romp of Chin Up, Cheer Up, the gospel backing on Hallelujah, and the reeling footlights that color Desire - Ryan Adams always seems most at his element when collaborating with Johns. The lone Stockholm track, You Will Always Stay The Same, all hushed whispers, cello and acoustic guitars, is no slouch either. — Boi Hon Kit

 

DOMINIUM
Psycho Path Fever [Metal Mind Productions]

With the iron curtain slowly fading away, more and more metal bands are emerging from the Eastern Bloc, and the visibly better groups seem to come from Poland. With the setting up of Metal Mind Productions, fans are coining the music the label distributes "Progressive Black Metal." This is a potent mix of symphonic black metal elements combined with an ambient sound and traditional heavy metal. And guitarist Marek Papaj has that "European" touch that gives listeners a taste of what they musically are. — Adam Md Yusop

 

ASGAARD
XIII Voltum Lunae [Metal Mind Productions]

This album was album of the week on five regional radio stations in Poland. Quite amazing how the media of a country can help shape its musical talents and be proud of its scene. Asgaard are not entirely outstanding but you will be able to identify with certain songs — especially the group's passion in music making. Recorded with a great string quartet, the sound is noble and symphonic, making them an excellent choice to perform at the Esplanade. — Adam Md Yusop

 

ENTER CHAOS
Dreamworker [Metal Mind Productions]
Does anyone remember the opening scene of An American Werewolf In London? Minutes after the two friends wandered off the road and walked through the moors, they were attacked by the vicious werewolf. After that, you think you would have a problem sitting up, let alone open your eyes. That is the feeling I got from listening to this excellent death metal masterpiece. Still, the haunting And The Angels Sing almost sounds too Slayer-esque for its own good, and included is a brutal cover of Cold, by Swedish death metal band, At The Gates. — Adam Md Yusop

 

RAYVON
My Bad [MCA]
Probably better known as the singer of the "hook" in Shaggy's Angel, Rayvon seems to be itching to crawl out of the pop ragga star's shadow in his sophomore CD. Though the two rose to industry prominence as a duo back in '92, Shaggy's career has since skyrocketed into the mainstream charts while Rayvon seemed stuck in collabos and the relatively smaller dancehall and R&B scene. In My Bad, the Barbados-born MC tries seriously hard to carve his own watered-down dancehall and light R&B style — so as not to sound too obviously Shaggy's dude maybe, but what it ends up is a largely forgettable pile of no-hit wonders. At least Shaggy can be funny — sometimes — but Rayvon tries too hard to be the serious one. And enough of the hip-hop macho playa fixation. Lines like "I should have treated you like the skank you are/Instead of having you riding up in my car/If I had stuck to my original plan/You'd have been a one night stand" (My Bad) are already way tired even in rap. Choose more interesting themes, dude. — Eddino Abdul Hadi

 
SNOOP DOGG PRESENTS DOGGY STYLE ALL-STARS
Welcome to Tha House Vol. 1 [Doggy Style Records/MCA]

Over at Doggy Style Records, there's no doubting who the top mongrel is. The Doggfather has paid all his west coast dues and can deservingly wear the 'Bigg' Snoop Dogg title here, and 'Welcome to Tha House Vol. 1' seeks to introduce his roster, the Doggy Style All-Stars. Enter Soopafly, LaToiya Williams, Mr. Kane, E-White and Snoop Dogg himself. With a major deal with MCA now under his wing, Bigg Snoop looks set to up the ante and take his pimp daddy-ing music to the next upper level with his distinctive old school funk and souls samples. While Soopafly and E-White bring shades of Tupac in their flow, it's the distinctive crack-falsetto of Mr Kane, the artiste formerly known as Kokane who shines in the hooks that he drops. The R&B stylings of former church singer Latoiya Jackson don't impress much as the 'first lady of Doggystyle', but this sampler pulls all stops in employing a plethora of guest stars that include Roc-A-Fella heavyweight Cam'ron, Dat Nigga Daz, Lady Of Rage, RBX, Special Ed and Lady May. Fa shizzle. — Eddino Abdul Hadi
 
FROU FROU
Details [Island]

It wont be fair to lable Frou Frou new age trip-hop, much as it sounds like at first listen. Because 'Details' will grow on you. Sure, singer Imogen Heap might sound a little Dido but this is excusable after the Sarah McLachlan phenom. The beats that the duo drop don't go faster than mid-tempo but it's the diverse atmospherics that they inject into the breezy songs that can hook the bedroom listener and clubber alike. 'Psychobable' has a pretty grand Mid-Eastern goth feel - really - while radio hit 'Breathe In' is an airy chill-pop song. If any of it sounds vaguely familiar that's because the male half of the duo, Guy Sigsworth had previously twiddled knobs for Bjork and Madonna. — Eddino Abdul Hadi


 
EAST RIVER PIPE
Shining Hours In A Can [Merge reissue]

Legend has it that FM Cornog (aka East River Pipe) used to be a homeless vagrant prowling the New Jersey's train stations, drunk and out. Listening to Shining Hours In A Can, East River Pipe's first album now being reissued by Merge Records, let you in on his despairing stories of his life on the street. Be dumbfounded by how you managed to miss all the superfluous pop melodies pouring out of Cornog's compelling vision of lo-fi pop eight years ago, all crisply recorded in bedroom-studio conditions that would make Robert Pollard jealous. East River Pipe went on to release three other albums on Merge after this (including 1999's excellent The Gasoline Age), but in many ways, this 1994 debut is still his most captivating offering. There are the pop anthems (opener Make A Deal With The City is his defiant kiss-off to all urban malaise), big pensive ballads (Miracleland), folksy tunes (Time Square Go-Go Boy and Silhouette Town) and vivid songwriting (the wistful loser sketched out on Axl or Iggy). In a more benevolent corner of the world, these rough jewels of Cornog's home recordings shine like stars. — Boi Hon Kit
 
JENNY TOOMEY
Tempting/Songs of Franklin Bruno [Misra]

I've always been a fan of Jenny Toomey beginning with Tsunami's debut. Still, their 1997 swan song "A Brilliant Mistake" was a welcomed step forward from a more traditional indie rock style and hinted at bigger and better things to come. Granted, it would take a while. Following a four-year break from recording, in 2001 Toomey reappeared with "Antidote," her first solo LP and a double disc set at that. Backed by various friends from groups like Lambchop, Ida, Pulsars and the Aluminum Group, she was truly coming into her own as a singer and songwriter. Her lyrics pointed inward, her most personal ever documenting the end of a tumultuous relationship. A year later, her new album can't be considered another solo record, and I'm sure she would be first to tell you.

For "Tempting," the prolific Franklin Bruno (Nothing Painted Blue) contributed a variety of songs for Toomey and her backing band (which includes Calexico and longtime collaborators like Amy Domingues) to interpret. In fact, it's a perfect pairing and Toomey personalizes every phrase. Opening with "Your Inarticulate Boyfriend," (previously released on Bruno's "Etudes for Voices and Snackmaster" Shrimper cassette), she literally croons over the band's Morricone flavor. For the uninitiated, Bruno's witty wordplay is most apparent with mariachi trumpet stabs accenting Toomey's matter-of-fact delivery about a boyfriend who can't complete a sentence. Almost every song on "Tempting" highlights Toomey as a vocalist (in the most traditional sense) manifesting herself through Bruno's clever lyrics and melodies.

During the sultry, old-fashioned country ballad "Cheat" (originally heard on his Simple Machines issued "A Bedroom Community), your eyes literally sting from cigarette smoke lingering in the late night air of some small town bar. The production throughout is elegant; the wavering strings in "Masonic Eye" or the jazz piano accompaniment in the title track is absolutely cinematic. But even during these moments it's apparent that Toomey, Bruno and company have enjoyed every single second in the creation of this album. - Pang Peow Yeong
 
SPRING HEEL JACK
Amassed (Thirsty Ear)

With the sound of a burning fire in the background, Kenny Wheeler's melancholic trumpet blows over the track, Lit, in what must be one of the most beautiful avant-garde jazz ballads ever. And the crackle of fire burning has to be one of the most effective uses of found sound as a musical accompaniment.

After last year's Masses, Spring Heel Jack's John Coxon and Ashley Wales have gone further down the free-jazz-meets-electronics route with their collaborators - Evan Parker (sax), Paul Rutherford (trombone), Matthew Shipp (piano) and a host of others including Spiritualized's Jason Pierce (guitar). Less frenetic than Massed, Amassed is instead ominous (Double Cross) and mournful (100 Years Before) and features a more lyrical and subdued Evan Parker. And it is a beautiful fusion of electronic noise, literally fuzzy scratchy electronics and found sounds, which act as new instruments for free jazz, something that Miles and Coltrane could not foresee in the pre-sampling era. Perhaps instead, it's the pioneering work of Cornelius Cardew and AMM which has come full circle. - Philip Cheah
 
SUPERDRAG
Last Call For Vitriol [Rykodisc]

The only splash of vitriol in the record really just comes in The Staggering Genius, where a thick slab of a chorus coupled with scathing lyrics (are you satisfied are you ever gonna be / you’re despicable inexplicable and you’re meaningless to me) evoke Nirvana way more than the oft-compared Replacements. On the rest of Superdrag’s fourth album, Last Call For Vitriol however, the power pop quintet rocks out like a Knoxville version of Teenage Fanclub, with it’s blending of Byrdsian harmonies with fuzzy guitar hooks.

Catchy opener Baby Goes To 11 impressed GBV maestro Bob Pollard enough for him to guest on backing vocals, inane lyrics notwithstanding (She’s one in a billion / with lips of vermillion). Standout song on the album is the bopping and melodic Remain Yer Strange, by new bassist Sam Powers, who also did lead vocals on the track. Mainman Jonathan Davis manages yet another plaintive paean to his late grandfather with the lovely slide-inflected ballad Way Down Here Without You, (I know you won’t be coming home / and it makes me feel so afraid of the unknown but I would give most anything to see you smile at me again). The odd alt-country ballad and pleasant rocker fills up the rest of the album, making Last Call For Vitriol an unoffensive and listenable enough record. [7] - Billy Tan

 
SPARTA
Wiretap Scars [Dreamworks 2002]

At The Drive-In was such a blindingly good band that nobody has any right to expect its splinter units The Mars Volta and Sparta to deliver product that didn't blink in the light of its brilliance.

Well, The Mars Volta, which comprises Cedric Bixler and Omar Rodriguez delivered its first offering, the Tremulant EP, earlier in the year. With topics addressing urban stagnation and personal betrayal, the EP actually sounds leaner and meaner than ATDI; and hopes run high for the duo's debut full-length.

Sparta, on the other hand, on their debut Wiretap Scars, has toned its sound down. Whereas ATDI came at you like a ball of white-hot distortion, Sparta has obviously taken pains to craft its music with hooks and shiny production. Guitarist Jim Ward has taken over Bixler's lead vocals, and in place of the dense screams Bixler favored in ATDI, we're treated to a more conventional post-punk vocal style. Wiretap Scars is nervy rock par excellence, and the opening track Cut Your Ribbon is an appetite-filling first gulp. As its splintering riffs explode over your head, it's hard not to tap into the song's excitement. Air, on the other hand, features electronics, something that suggests this is a band that's only just starting to refine its sound. When Sparta’s second record comes along, our bets are that we might hear an utterly different-sounding band. Two great bands from one? That's something to give thanks for. - Lee Chung Horn

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