Sound Bites
By Daily Bruin Staff
April 30, 2002 9:00 p.m.
Neil Young “Are You Passionate?”Â
Reprise Records
Passionate? Yes, that this album should remain on the shelves
and far away from your CD player. “She’s a
Healer,” from Neil Young’s “Are You
Passionate?,” starts out with the lyrics, “There
ain’t no way I’m gonna let the good times go.”
But sadly, they have gone. The music on this CD plods along with
barely a break in the monotony. Then there’s the vocals.
Young sounds like Scuttle, the Little Mermaid’s seagull
sidekick, who’s been kicked in the nuts and asked to sing a
love song. The guitar is enjoyable, but there isn’t enough of
it to save the CD. The disc needs more good ol’ rock
‘n’ roll. There’s enough “oh baby”
rock in this world without Young adding to the grand total. Young
has made plenty of interesting music in his prime, but this just
isn’t revolutionary. Or even enjoyable. The only people who
will find true use with this album are diehard Young fans, warbling
enthusiasts and insomniacs. –
Kathleen Dunphy
Cornershop “Handcream For A Generation”
Wiiija Records
Anyone who has seen Guy Ritchie’s “Snatch” or
“Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels” knows the
British director’s affinity for soundtracks featuring
versatile playlists. With “Handcream for a Generation,”
London quintet Cornershop boasts a vast variety of sounds that
would seem fitting in the next Mr. Madonna Ciccone production.
After waking up from a four-year nap, Cornershop has stumbled onto
an album that might be as charming as 1997’s “When I
was Born for the 7th Time,” which spawned the irresistible
ditty “Brimful of Asha.” “Handcream” is all
over the place. “Heavy Soup” swings into a jazzy table
of contents. “Staging the Plaguing of the Raised
Platform,” incorporates a chorus of children in the style of
Jay-Z’s “Hard Knock Life.” “Lessons Learned
from Rocky I to Rocky III” is a riff-laden heavyweight
obviously influenced by Marc Bolan and Keith Richards. Just for
good measure, ringleader Tjinder Singh knocks out some disco,
reggae, funk and Indian music. Despite the lack of a consistent
vocal presence from Singh, “Handcream” is one of those
rare albums that make listeners want to jam on a sitar. –
David Chang
Badly Drawn Boy “About a Boy” (Soundtrack)
XL Recordings
“About a Boy” is not the follow up to Badly Drawn
Boy’s acclaimed and wonderful “The Hour of
Bewilderbeast.” It is a movie soundtrack and a very pleasant
one at that. BDB infuses the instrumental interludes and jangly
songs with the same mellow voice and sweet melodies that made
“Bewilderbeast” so universally appealing, but without
the intimacy and brutal emotion that characterized “the
Beast.” There is no “The Shining” or
“Pissing in the Wind” on “About A Boy.”
This soundtrack does deliver extremely pleasant background music.
It even gets a little funky, and is certainly upbeat. The listener
can easily hear how fitting these tracks will be accompanying the
assumably heartwarming film they were written for. Although, those
unfamiliar with BDB’s music should start with
“Bewilderbeast,” this disc will tide fans over until
the fall release of the band’s actual sophomore effort
tentatively titled “All Possibilities.” –
Anthony Bromberg
Sheryl Crow “C’mon, C’mon”
A&M Records
Fun, sun and Sheryl Crow in a bikini: a great summer party?
Almost. On Crow’s newest album, “C’mon,
C’mon,” the singer/songwriter/producer/pseudo-diva
delivers plenty of good-time guitar strumming and memorable hooks.
Like any good party, “C’mon” boasts a phat guest
list from Don Henley and Lenny Kravitz to Liz Phair and Gwyneth
Paltrow, but this is still Crow’s party. Despite her sexed-up
look, Crow’s sincerity and sense of humor are still intact
and in many ways the makeover has given her songs a freshness that
seemed to have been lost in “The Globe Sessions.”
Although on “C’mon,” Crow does everything from
the brooding blues of “Weather Channel” to the straight
rock ‘n’ roll of “Steve McQueen,” the
strongest songs lie somewhere in the middle. The motivational
“Diamond Road” is one of the more notable songs.
“C’mon, C’mon” is an impressive return by
Sheryl Crow. It’s pop with substance ““ songs that talk
about communists and The Clash but can still manage to sneak onto
TRL. –
Alex Palmer
Trey Anastasio “Trey Anastasio”
BMI
No one can blame Trey Anastasio for lacking ambition. Liberating
himself from the confines of his former band Phish in order to
explore more creative musical avenues, Anastasio has already
recorded and toured with bizarro outfit Oysterhead; now with the
release of his first official solo LP, long-time fans can watch him
dive headfirst into Latin and R&B in an attempt to be the next
border-hopping Paul Simon. With no less than 29 other
instrumentalists contributing to the album, it’s clear how
easily Anastasio’s first solo project could have become an
overblown glut-fest. Yet with songs like “Cayman
Review” and “Push on Til the Day,” the horn
arrangements manage to add just enough bombast to provide an energy
that was AWOL in nearly all of Phish’s studio work.
Meanwhile, songs like the afro-beat driven “Last Tube”
and the marimba-enhanced album opener “Alive Again”
show Anastasio in a state of transition, still trying to assimilate
the world-beat stylings without coming off forced. Witness
“Money, Love and Change,” which features Anastasio
sharing vocal duties with a soulful R&B singer. Even with his
volume turned down low, our melanin-deprived friend’s nasally
vocals nevertheless sound embarrassingly awkward. Naturally, the
best moments come when all of the added bells and whistles
don’t get in the way of Anastasio’s quirky melodies and
guitar virtuosity. Thankfully those moments come often enough to
avoid the train wreck that this LP could have become. –
Andrew Lee
