Newspaper Page Text
Page 18
Flagpole Magazine
March 18, 1992
Ear Wax
Yellow Magic Orchestra
Kyoretsu Na Rhythm — Characters (Restless)
There are many of you who don’t remember YMO.
There’s a good reason for this. YMO was boring before their
time. Formed in 1979 by Riuichi Sakomoto (a name that
should ring a bell with some new-agers and with some Euro
disco dancers), YukihiroTakahashi, and Haruomi Hosono,
this was Japan’s answer to Kraftwerk, and we all know
where they ended up. Excruciatingly boring, they tried to
ride the wave of the new during the early eighties, succeed
ing only in releasing dull album after dull album. Sakomoto
has done well for himself tree from the confines of the YMO
(a few excellent solo disc ^s well as some collaborations
with David Sylvian of Japan), but there is no audience for
this disco-glop trash. And the ultimate insult is the remixed
closer “Megamix — YMO in the ’90s,’ an insultingly mind
less plop of slop on the CD light. Faceless and nameless,
you’ve heard it a million times in commercials and discos.
Don’t waste your money if you’re going dancing somewhere
else. (C)
J.E. Sumrell
XYZ
Hungry (Capitol Records)
Let’s start with the lyrics. Revolving mainly around the
themes of getting drunk and fornicating while being drunk
is nothing new in the genre of cheese-rock (of which this
band defi
nitely is in),
but they de
liver it so
poorly —
it’s comi
cal. Their
single at
tempt to
that they
have any
depth whatsoever is an offering titled "The Sun Also Rises
in Hell’ but inserted among other titles like "Whiskey on a
Heartache,’ "H.H. Boogie’ and "Face Down in the Butter’ it
loses any hope of credibility.
Musically, there’s not even a flicker, not even an aimless
stab at originality. Crappy solos and vocal additions like
’uh-huh’ and "woo’ between breaks are enough to urge
any listener to vomit and that’s even before the second song
has started.
According to their press release: “In their spare time on
the road, XYZ taught young American females a thing or
two.’ Yeah — maybe they were taught what it’s like to hang
out with talentless losers or perhaps these females really
enjoy the sight and smell of pure, refined cheese. (D)
Brian Padian
Urban Dance Squad
Routine (Arista Records)
When I was given Urban Dance Squad’s new single for
review, I must confess that I was really excited. UDS had
concocted one of the most creative mixtures of rap and rock
that I had ever heard on
Mental Ross for the Globe
and the printed words for
Routine seemed rather in
teresting yet a little con
fusing. Words like, "I tried
to brush my teeth yes/ I
must confess/ Tears just
wet splashed/On the shelf’
are not really gibberish but
not exactly profound ei
ther.
When I finally played
.the sonq, the beginning
guitar riffs seemed pretty bluesy and vintage UDS “mel
low,’ but the song goes straight down hill as soon as
Rudeboy starts to sing. On this particular single, he abso
lutely cannot hit a note. Instrumental^, the song fares pretty
well. Tres Manos does a good job with his guitar, but Magic
Stick’s drums are totally elementary and simplistic. The
song relays a good message, but its not a proper follow-up
to such an innovative premiere album. I hope this is net the
best UDS has to offer on Life'N Perspectives of a Genuine
Crossover. (C)
Benjamin Biscoglia
Arrested Development
Three Years, Five Months and Two Days
in the Life of... (Chrysalis Records)
After listening to this record, the debut release from the
Georgia-based hiphop group Arrested Development, I’m
dumbfounded. The only word that immediately comes to
mind is genius. The
smooth mix of ragtime
jazz, blues, and 70s
funk basslines leaves
no room for compari
son. Atlanta has a
strong hiphop culture
which has gone rela
tively unnoticed for the
past few years. Ar
rested Development
will make the country
stand up and take notice of our local rap scene.
There is indeed “something for everyone" on this record.
From the lyrical quickness of "U," tackling the problems of
black teen parenthood on “Mama’s Always Onstage," to
encouraging the humanization of street bums on Mr.
Wendei," this record is guaranteed to make you smile.
Rather than simply encouraging a violent solution to society’s
problems, A.D. creates a new and more profound con
sciousness, stressing that our individual thought processes
must first be changed before we can change the world.
A.D.’s lyricist and frontman Speech describes their sound
as "cultural-southern-hiphop-folk-ethnic-funk" aka “life
music." When you buy this record, you’ll be doing more than
exposing yourself to new innovations in music, you’ll also be
supporting our culture and our local music scene. This
recording will be available March 24. (A+)
Ian Hayes
Lords of Acid
Lust (Caroline Records)
If you own a dance club or a cheesy strip bar, rush out
to buy this record. If not, stay the hell away. Granted, the
beats sound cool for
about ten seconds, but
any longer than that as. J
you start losing I.Q.
points. The disk is com
prised of 12 songs —
basically the same
song remixed 12 ways.
To sum it up in one sen
tence: beats and key
boards with a sexy ho’ talking about touching herself in
every song. Songs like “Let’s Get High,’ “Spacy Bitch,"
"Hey Ho!’ and “I Must Increase My Bust’ give an indication
of the quality of writing that went into this record. If you enjoy
being teased by some slut over your soundsystem while
dancing nude in your livingroom, this is for you. Get it? Got
it. Good? Nah. (Q)
Ian Hayes
Big Wheel
Holiday Manor {Mammoth)
A teenage thrash band named Squirrel Bait blew into the
underground music scene a few years ago. They provided
a craftily creative, pulsating twist to their genre. After
Squirrel Bait broke up, three bands spawned from their
remains: Slint, Bastro, and Big Wheel. Slint and Bastro are
full of life and provocation; their music leaves an impres
sion. Big Wheel’s music is pop tripe. I wanted to find
something, anything likeable about Holiday Manor, but
alas, Big Wheel rebuked me with each successive song.
Their press kit describes them as “accessible’ and it’s true,
their music is easy to approach in a way Mr. Mister’s music
was easy to approach, or maybe in the way a vast waste
land is easy to approach: there’s nothing hindering your
entrance, but once you arrive, there’s only a void. (D)
Alex Jones
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