Newspaper Page Text
Ampersand
Jaman / February. /97V
iQlndisc
vrars ago. Thr movr now is towards blurs,
as performed by Austin’s legendary but
unrecorded Thundrrbirds, and the ccmjmlo
sound of San Antonio’s fabled West Side.
Now, one thing that gives a gnngo like me
pause is my complete inability to ap-
preriatr < on junto all the way because I don’t
understand the lingo of El West Side, and
that’s why I was so happy to hear that El
Molino, headed by the irrepressible Joe
“King" Carrasco, had finally recorded:
they’re a hip, young, Tex-Mex conjunto band
(the phrase is redundant: conjunto means
band) that has its music in Mrx and its
lyrics in lex.
Horribly recorded, in true 'lex-Mrx fash
ion, this album nonetheless has more kick
per groove than 90 percent of the stufT
that’s come out this year, whether it be
straight-ahead rock and roll (“Just a Mile
Away,’’ with the Sir Douglas Quintet’s
Augie Meyers on blazing piano); blues
(“Every Woman Crazy About an Auto
mobile”); or their own unique Tex-Mex
sound (“Mezcal Road," “Rock Esta
Noche” or “Jalapeno con Big Red’’). Joe’s
crazy singing and some amazing sax by
West Side legend Eraclro “Rocky” Morales
are just the frosting on a very tasty, and
melodic, cake. Con jalapeno. of course.
Ed Ward
B<»H MMtl.KY \M) THF w mi ; Kn
Babylon by Bus /Island)
Peter I osh
Bush Doctor (Rolling Stows)
ventriloquist’s dummy. So there. And if this
review has ruined your breakfast, well, EX-
CtUUUUUSE MF."
Chris Clark
Barry Miles
Fusion Is (Gryphon)
fusion Is features the regular quartet ol
keylroardist Barry Miles, a solid unit that has
worked together for several years. T he six
selections were all own posed by hand mem
bers. Although there are several fine impro
visations. the main strength of this album is
the tightness of the group and the musical
communication between its members.
Miles, originally a precocious drummer
who jammed with many jazz greats before he
was ten. switched to keyboards in his teens.
Now, at 31, he has developed a personal
sound on thr synthesizer while his work on
the acoustic piano reflects the influences of
McCoy Tyner and Bill Evans. T he other
main soloist, guitarist Vic Juris, has numer
ous speedy flights while bassist Jon Burr
displays a good deal of versatility.
But it is thr total group rfTort on these
pleasant modern jazz melodies that is re-
inemliered Nothing startling occurs and it is
not really a “fusion" date, but is instead a fine
showcase for the Miles quartet.
Scott Yanow
Queen
Jazz (Flektra)
Marie) and company have been coming
under fire recently from "roots" reggae fans
for abandoning the illusion-burning rebel
music of yore for straightforward love songs
that can appeal to the crossover market.
The key clement to these ears, however,
isn’t the lyrical themes but whether Marley
infuses his singing with genuine intensity
(the strong Exodus LP) or sounds detached
from the material (the bland Kay).
Babylon by Bus, a two-disc live set cover
ing most phases of the Waiters’ career, falls
somewhere between these poles. It’s a solid,
workmanlike effort and the Barrett brothers
remain the best reggae rhythm section
extant. But for truly transcendent — and
that’s the proper phrase — live Wailers,
check out the earlier, single LP.
Many people figured original Waiter
Peter Tosh would be the one to make a
truly radical statement through reggae—
apparently the Jamaican cops who busted
his head open recently stsll think so—but
his LPs have never delivered the goods.
Mick Jagger’s presence on “Don’t Look
Back" may make Tosh the designated chic
wildman of the Gucci set but Bush Doctor is
his worst album to dale. The lyrics read
well, but lame melodies and uninspired
performances make one wonder about the
effects of extensive ganja smoking on musi
cal creativity.
Don Snowdon
Steve Martin
A Wild df Crazy Guy (Iturner Bros.)
I hate Steve Martin, lie’s thr sort of snivel
ling bimbo who sticks a lamp shade on his
head at a party and thinks it’s funny. Only
problem is, everyone else does too. Now. I
realize these statements may not accurately
reflect the common consensus, but I would
rather watch the combined episodes of del
Smart than put up with ten minutes of an
album by this mondo-retardo self-propelled
So now they're on the radio and the walls ol
fourteen-year-old nymphets across the
world. Too had. Before "Bohemian Rhap
sody,” Queen was a creditable bunch of cas
trated rockers who could actually sing, but
now the chipmunk yodrling sounds amaz
ingly affected amidst the tinkertoy ragtime
i luttrr and classical plagiarism. Pomp with
out circumstance, and even the Brian May
guitar-grind has been reduced to wet
sandpaper. Freddie Mercury still sings with
all the authority of Jerry Lewis in a tutu (or is
that Tbto?) and drummer Roger Taylor con
tinue* to cover the latest rock fads (last year it
was the Rainones, this time he clones “Fun
It" from the Gars), but not even the Sweet
would sloop as low as “Bicycle Race" to get
on the charts. And "Fat-Bottomed Girls" do
not make the “nickin’ world go ’round," they
just eat more lettuce. So it goes. We will we
will schlock you . . . thomp thomp clunk.
Chris Clark
It is hard to recall a recording that so ri
veted the listener’s attention.
Ed Cray
Ralph Shapey
String Quartet # V11: Quartet of the (Con
temporary Chamber Players of the Uni
versity of (Chicago ((Ml)
Shapey is rither a madman or a genius,
perhaps both. How else explain the juxtapos
ition of freeform fantasies with a rigid
passacaglia in the same siring quartet? How
else explain the hyperkinetic frolic of the first
movement and the gravity of the third?
Whichever, however it might lie, this Uni
versity of Chicago professor of music is a
singular voice, a man not easily assigned to
any of the currently fashionable factions of
contemporary music. 11 is a bit silly to say of a
man of such rank and years (57) that be is a
"comer," but if this recording is a fair sample
of bis output, he deserves a far wider audi
ence than he has received.
Ed Cray
Cat Stevens
Back to Earth (A&M)
If you don’t have a Stevens album in the old
stack, and were thinking of adding one to the
collection for those quiet evenings by the
fireplace, then consider leaser und the hires at or
lea for the hUetman. Either of them will give
you traditional (Cat at his liest.
On the other hand, if you are a devoted
(Cat-lover and already have one or Ixith ol the
two aforementioned discs, then, yes, ibis
album is worth the dough, and even one of
your lies! marbles.
There isn't much that can be labelled
"new" on the disc, for Stevens is his same old
self, playing the same sort of guitar and
piano. He does dabble in jazz a bit, and is all
the I letter for it. But the (Cat is up to numlier
12 now, and he may feel as though be is run
ning out of words tosay and chords to play. It
hasn't hap|M-ned yet. He is still ( ranking out
fresh music.
Amy Fisctwr
Todd Rundcrkn
Back to thr Bars (Bearsmile)
This double live album is a Todd
Rundgren, er, retrospective. The trouble
with it is not that Rundgrrn's material is
half-witted. As shown by an occasional
schlocker like ‘Hello It’s Me," half
wittedness can be charming and even an
asset, if it’s really all you’ve got. The
desperately aggravating thing herr is repet
ition: even when Rundgrrn’s musical ideas
are interesting, they have usually lost mint
of their momentum by the eightieth time
around. "Black Maria" manages to be a
little captivating despite firing draggl'd out
like the rest of them, but on the whole this
is a pretty dismal spectacle.
Scott Mitchell
Fran/ Sum hfri
Quartet No. 15 in G
let (RCA)
The Cuarnen Quar-
If one needl'd piool ol tlie virtually unanim
ous ranking of the Cuurncri as the premier
string quartet in the world iiNiay, it would lie
here. (There are musicians who insist this is
the greatest ol all siting quartet*. Beethoven.
Haydn and Mozart notwithstanding.)
Richard and Linda Thompson
First Light (Chrysalis)
Eclecticism is the keynote of this moody,
somber-toned offering from seminal British
lolkies and avowed Moslems, Richard and
Linda Thoni|Mon. While thr musical lialanc e
of First light consists of a rather disarming
folk/rock blend, as evidenced on numbers
such as “Restless Highway" and “Sweet Sur
render," its real strength lies in the use of
soaring traditional English harmonies and
ballad structures, on sterling and stirring
selections likr “The Choice Wife," “Died for
Love," Strange Affair,” and "House of
Cards,” all Kichard T hompson originals.
Throughout, Linda Thompson's crystalline
pure vocals and thoughtful delivery recall thr
best moments of Ian and Sylvia, Richard and
Mimi Farina and, in one marvelous interlude
titled “Pavanne," vintage Judy Collins. The
tune sounds precisely likr a discarded track
from Collins’ groundbreaking rniri-Sixlir* In
My luje, while thr routing chorus on "House
of Cards’* and the title track are reminiscent
of thr heyday of Fairporl Convention, a
group thr duo cut their musical teeth on and,
in Richard's case, in Throughout this subtle,
convoluted album a wide stylistic reach
forms a cohesive base which makes it one of
the stronger rfTort* heard from this genre in
some lime. Assistance from Julie Covington.
Andy Fair weather-low. Ian Matthews, and
the ethereal Maddy Prior add to the ( harm of
this understated minor masterpiece.
Oavin Seay
iNinnn
EARS
More On Little
Big Sound
lust month I examined the pros and eons of buying a
compact hip system as against mixing-and
matching yesur own components. Had / been asked to ,
discuss compacts just a couple of fears ago. / would
have turned down the assignment, since so <ailedhs fo
compacts of the late Sixties and early Seventies were
little more than low p table radios inlh record chan •
gets perched on top These days, compacts have come
of age and you ran get pretty good sound out of them
I njorInnately. that's not true of all the compacts
around. There's ,till a lot of junk out there and the
odds of ending up with a poor sounding system are
greater when you turn to compacts than they would be
if you chose hi p components. So. how do you know
irhat's good* bu read on. that's how.
Many of the same manufacturers who pro
duce separate components also make com
pact systems. Some of these are Aiwa, “Cen
trex” (by Pioneer), Fisher, Hitachi, ()p-
lonica, Panasonic, Sanyo. Sharp and
Supcrscope (who also make Marantz com
ponents). While it would lie impossible for us
to list and describe all of the models made by
thesr and other reputable manufacturers in
this brief overview, we have selected a few
systems for a more complete description.
Note that in some instances, s|M*aker syslrms
are not offered as part of the compact system,
but can lie selected by the purchaser in much
thr same way as they would lie if separate
component* were lieing lioughl
Aiwa'* Model AK-50BOA, with a suggested
retail price of $570.00, combines a bell
driven, single-play semi-automatic turntable
(equipped with a Shure M-9IKD cartridge)
with a Dolby-equipped cassette recorder/
player and an AM/FM stereo receiver. The
amplifier section is rated at 22 watts per
channel, continuous power, from 40 Hz to
20,000 Hz, intoH-ohm speaker loads, with no
more than I percent total harmonic distor
tion.
Fisher Corporation's ICS-430, with a
suggested retail price of $400.00, includes
that company’s MC-4030 stereo receiver
with a built-in front-loading cassettr deck
including Dolby noise reduction. A Model
225XA record changer equipped with a
magnetic cartridge is included but is
mounted in its own separate tiase, and a pair
of Fisher MS-II5A wide range speakers ha*
ing relatively high efficiency are included
The Centrex (by Pioneer) KH-767 com
bines an AM/FM stereo receiver, cassette
recorder/player, and a three-way speaker
system. Receiver power is 12 walls per than
nel continuous into H-nhm speaker load*,
from 40 Hz to 30,000 Hz at OR percent
maximum total harmonic distortion. Ten-
inch woofers are the bass-reproducing ele
ments of the three-way speakers which arc
supplied in walnut-finish cabinets. This
model carries a suggested price of $370, but
for another $H0.00 you can purchase their
KH-7766, which includes a three-speed
changer equipped with a magnetic cartridge.
Hitachi's SDP/9600 ((impact music sys
tem combines a record/play stereo cassette
deck, AM/FM stereo receiver. BSR record
changer with an AIK.’ magnetic cartridge