Sound Bites
By Daily Bruin Staff
Nov. 21, 2000 9:00 p.m.
 Gomez “Abandoned Shopping Trolley
Hotline” Virgin
Gomez “Abandoned Shopping Trolley Hotline”
Virgin
After forty years worth of Beatles rip-offs, it’s about
time we got a new British band to snag the rock crown on their own.
Perhaps if Oasis and company stopped playing slaves at the altar of
Lennon and McCartney and found a new group to emulate, British rock
could climb above the level of Robbie Williams and stand on its
own. Well, the answer to this problem lies in Gomez. With two
studio albums under its belt and a killer new compilation, the
bluesy quintet is the best hope Britain’s had in years. This
band should be the new source of musical rip-offs for another few
decades. Even though the fivesome indulges in some Beatles worship
of its own, Gomez has a unique sound deserving of the drooling
press that has greeted it so far. If 1999’s “Liquid
Skin” was “Sgt. Pepper” done Gomez style, then
“Abandoned Shopping Trolley Hotline” is its
“Magical Mystery Tour.” Sure, the song is still kind of
weird, but it proves to be more accessible to the everyday
listener. Cobbled together from live sessions and studio outtakes,
“Hotline” has the complex production values of
“Liquid Skin,” but with a poppier edge that is quite
welcome. If Gomez can make albums like this only five years after
its inception, the future looks mighty bright indeed. Slick,
enjoyable melodies further pepper “Hotline,” giving it
an inviting feel. The assembly is well-planned as well, with the
cool glide of “Wharf Me” complimenting the
stripped-down acoustic feeling of “High On Liquid
Skin.” And while the band can still turn up the amps and rock
out, as it does on the awkwardly-titled “Bring Your
Lovin’ Back Here,” they’re not a one-trick pony.
The dark, understated groove of “Emergency Surgery,”
for instance, is miles away from its surrounding tricks, yet links
them together flawlessly. Gomez is, however, at heart, a rock band.
While the majority of the fifteen songs are pretty good,
“Hotline” sounds best when the boys play straight rock.
Hence, the jangly “Buena Vista” stands out
impressively, as does an inspired remake of the Beatles’
“Getting Better.” While, they handle the tune with
care, they re-work it on their own terms, making it fresh once
again. Though “Hotline” has its downsides, most notably
an uninspired re-mix of the band’s own “We
Haven’t Turned Around” and the overly drawn-out
“Steve McCroski,” it’s by and large an excellent
album. Let’s just hope Gomez can keep it up after this
extremely positive beginning.
Brent Hopkins Rating: 8
Instrumental “Acoustek” Angel
Usually devoid of proper notation and live instruments, and
lacking stylistic focus, modern electronic music can seemingly
exist only as a cheap imitation of the real thing. Instrumental, on
its debut album “Acoustek,” however, proves that this
stereotype is far from the truth. A subdued, chamber-esque string
sextet might not be able to get the adrenaline flowing like a
hard-house DJ, but Instrumental manages to bring out elegance in
their renditions. Its album consists of covers of
classic/electronic dance tracks whose true potential is only hinted
at in the originals. From club anthems like the Orb’s
“Little Fluffy Clouds” (which Instrumental was
incidentally asked to perform at Orb’s tour performance last
year) to Brian Eno’s imaginary film soundtrack piece
“Sparrowfall,” Instrumental delivers Its choices for
reconstruction all carry a particular theme ““ innovation. A
beautiful opener on “Acoustek,” Orbital’s
“Forever” is an unexpected turn for the two-member
band. The song is a move away from trance and toward experimental
jungle; its apparent simplicity is reworked to sound like a
Medieval jig. Moby’s “Hymn” gets a baroque
makeover, maybe not sounding quite as ethereal as the original, but
definitely proving to be beautiful in its own way. The song
cleverly fades out into one of Moby’s other classic dance
anthems, “Go,” which is only played for a few notes.
Other bands covered on the CD include the Future Sound of London,
The Shamen, Skylab and Plastikman. If, however, there’s one
thing less than subtle about this album, it’s the funny bass
lines required to be played by a double bassist, who is most
assuredly bored to tears during some of the more repetitive pieces.
As all members of Instrumental are classically trained musicians,
its combined skill is probably a bit underworked on this
compilation.
Cyrus McNally Rating: 6
Rockapella “Christmas” J-Bird
Records
With Christmas approaching, one can find a large selection of
Christmas CDs at any music store Rockapella, an a cappella group
best known as the providers of background music for “Where in
The World is Carmen Sandiego,” recently came out with its
third American release, titled “Christmas.” The
Christmas album, consists of new twists on such traditional
favorites as “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” and
“White Christmas.” Yet the album also contains other
Christmas songs that are not quite as popular on the radio, such as
“Glow Worm” and “You’re a Mean One, Mr.
Grinch.” The best of the 12 songs is Rockapella’s
rendition of “Winter Wonderland.” To create an amusing
swing style, the background vocalists sing “doo-wop.”
The CD opens with a short Christmas favorite, “I Heard the
Bells on Christmas Day,” that starts slowly and tenderly,
then ends with lush harmonies over a faster beat, preparing the
listener for the second track, “The Hope We Hold.”
Especially interesting is the CD insert, which insists that
“all sounds on these tracks were produced by the voices and
appendages of Rockapella.” After listening to the second
track, with fast syncopation and a great drum and bass beat,
however, one almost feels the statement could be argued as false.
The background beat and fresh sounds lead one to believe
instruments were used because the amazing sounds seem as if they
were beyond human vocal abilities. “Glow Worm,” another
great song, begins with a 1950’s sound mixed with a
barbershop tune. It’s an uplifting song that succeeds in
nurturing the Christmas spirit. Following this carol, is the
classic, “It’s Beginning To Look Like Christmas,”
a tune that showcases the main vocalist and one of the back-up
vocalists in an echoing and melodic duet. “Christmas”
also contains harmony-rich ballads such as “Silver
Bells” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little
Christmas,” however, as the album progresses, the music seems
to drag on. Tracks nine through 11 are all very slow ballads that
seem to last forever, making one wish that something lively would
appear. The CD comes to an almost startling end with a pop song
apparently influenced by Michael Jackson’s “Bad”
album. After the introduction, the bass vocalist of the group sings
the line “You’re a mean one, Mr. Grinch,”
revealing the true nature of the jingle. This song and his voice
are actually rather freaky and take the mood of the CD to a whole
new level ““ a level one would rather stay away from during
the Christmas season.
Laura Morgan Rating: 6
Taproot “Gift” Atlantic Records
New hard rock that isn’t one-dimensional, Taproot’s
album “Gift,” will aptly serve as a gift to fans of
heavy, emotion-saturated, music that can no longer handle the
egotistical, corny lyrics of post-inauguration-to-Playboy-mansion
Fred Durst. Perhaps the comparison to the music of Limp Bizkit is
completely unfounded; Taproot should not be identified with the
rap-core sound. Taproots music is built on intense melodies and
seldom does singer Stephen Richards rap over the hard-hitting
guitar riffs that dominate their sound. The most notable connection
to Limp Bizkit is not through musical style, but the over
publicized profanity-laced message that Durst had left on
Richards’ answering machine after feeling betrayed when the
band began to investigate other recording opportunities outside of
the one that Durst was offering them. Taproot is happy about their
decision to stick to a record contract with Atlantic, as are their
fans. Taproots’ style is along the lines of the anguished and
rugged approach of Staind, however to identify Taproot with a
single other band is too restrictive. Their music incorporates the
styles of Korn, Nine Inch Nails, and Incubus, among others.
“Gift” is a 43 minute release of pure emotion,
anti-establishment sentiment, frustration and agony. What better
formula for a hard-hitting album aimed at teenage angst and
disillusionment? Taproot’s first single, “Again &
Again” is reaching the airwaves through a generous amount of
radio play, and judging by the strength of the album, won’t
be the last that the radio we’ll hear from this new band. The
songs on “Gift” tend to blend together, making it a
seamless experience from start to finish. Raw emotion, power, and
anguish are effective in making Taproot music to listen to at full
volume.
Chris Moriates Rating: 7
