Newspaper Page Text
JANUARY 6. 1993
■
> "i-xK- : V*
R
Wax
. ;
Various
INTERNATIONAL POP UNDERGROUND
Convention (K Records)
At long last, the compilaton album
of the year has arrived! For those of you
who could not attend (like me and
99 9999997% of music fans worldwide)
the IPU was held August 20-25.1991 in
Olympia. Washington by K Records
czar and Beat Happening member
CaYn Johnson As is stated si the liner
notes, "no lackeys to the corporate
ogre allowed * Nuff said Leave your
Pearl Jam see-dee n the toilet and all
praise the Revolution!
Here are a couple of notable cuts
The ever-so-Sassy mighty Nation of
Ulysses pack quite a whaltop The‘Nir
vana-praised* Melvins (above) dredge
through ‘Charmicarmicat* ends side
one Anybody who's heard that song,
and I use that term lightly knows how
painful their sludge-fest can be
Spnnanes pay tnbute to Half Japa
nese with" Jad Fair Drives Women Wild ’
Toronto's surf purveyors, the Shadowy
Men. play an nstrumental about Chi
huahuas Bratmobite. who now have
like 3 singles out and more on the way.
slice through ‘Punk Rock Dream Come
True ‘ Fuzz guitarists Girt(Grrrt)Trouble
slap you in the face with ‘Bmg on the
Dancing Girls a The ‘American
Buzzcocks.* the Fastbacks. play ‘Im
patience* from their Sub Plop double
seven inch from last year Finally, the
hosts of the IPU. Beat Happenng. wrap
up the f estMties vMth a Napcy
Sn ‘ which was recentfycov-
ered by Superchunk on the
BH Tribute LP
All in al. a definite must
buy. On one hand, this re
cording serves as a docu
ment for the 90s equivalent
of Wood-stock On the other,
it is a great introduction to
some very vital, emerging
bands Find a record store and
snag this histone piece o Vinyl
Henry Owmgs
Suzi Katz
Suzi Katz (ESD)
Suzi Katz is from Boulder.
Colorado, vtfiich posses a spe
cial spot in my soul Boulder is
one of those mystical towns
slowly being swallowed up by
Denver s sprawling metropolis
Between Boulder Falls. Coot Lake, the
Flat Iron mountam. and the Naropa
Institute there's enough cosmic nftu-
ences in the air to create Incredible Art
But music was never one of Boulder’s
strong points, most would-be musi
cians are too busy sking. mountain
climbing, hiking, or wanderng around
the city in jeeps Suzi studied music at
Colorado University, took courses at
the Naropa Institute, and met jazz mu
sician. Steve Tibbetts On this release,
she s aided by percussomst Marc
Anderson and bassist Enrique
Toussaint Katz creates a sylvan col
lection of tunes smithed and polished
with stream of consciousness type lyr
es Comforting jazz and fok elements
she plays appropriate acoustic guitar
It's aN very nee. but after a lot of this. I
find I'd rather be skiing (B)
Hillary Meister
Sweet Water
Sweet Water (New Rage Records)
My best fnend saw Sweet Water at
some dive in Anchorage. Alaska this
summer He told me that they were
from Seattle and they kicked ass. but
bang relatively new. they had only a 4-
song demo at the time But his raves
sparked r.iy merest, so I searched for
their demo, or a 7 inch, and stumbled
upon a full CD vtfiile otherwise wasting
money n Atlanta Well worth it Sweet
Water should not be stigmatized be
cause they're from Seattle they don't
sound like anythng on Sub Pop (well
maybe a few shades of old Seaweed or
The Fluid.) The singer sounds Ike Ian
Astbury at times but*that so bad? W*h
afresh, explosive and legitvnafe sound,
the band is nteiligent. passionate and
emotional. ‘Coming Down on You."
‘King of 79. ‘ and ‘Cant Say No* are all
powerfully provocative compos (tons
that combine slightly rude gurtars. pul
sating bass and crash-course drums.
The sounds are sometimes frenzied,
sometimes messy but always biting
and in your face In a nice way of
course ‘Everything Will Be Just Fine’
has to be one of the greatest anthems
and ‘biggest' soundng songs I Ye ever
heard I’m sure I’m the only one in
Athens to have discovered them, but il
understand they have been signed to
Atlantic Records so hopefully soon ev
eryone can wallow in the bliss of Sweet
Water that has kept me in perpetual
‘nirvana* for the past few months Sweet
Water rates 5 five pound bags of Dixie
Crystals sugar Plan and simple—one
of the best albums of the year
John Mincemoyer
NED’S ATOMIC DUSTBIN
Are You Normal?
(Chaos/Columbia)
Ned's (shown right)
debuted a year and a
half ago with the bnlliant
Godtodder an album full
of stones of my life teen
angst, loneliness, indeci
sion. and anger This En
glish quartet lives as close
to my heart as cholesterol
Although their second al
bum. Are You Normal?, isn't
as fresh, there's still not a
song on it I don't like Ned's
Atomic Dustbin defies de
scriptton; they're too loud to
be pop, too melodic to be
grunge ‘Suave and Suffocated'opens
the album, a song about dngng to the
past and fearing the future. "NotSleep-
ing Around* suggests a few relation
ships were marred dumg ntensive tour
ing Ned s are sounding better than
ever If you never Iked them m the first
place, then you probably won t Ike
them now But that is your loss (A-*-)
Valerie Park
Chris Harford and
THE FIRST RAYS OF
the New Rising Sun
Be Headed (Elektra)
Once in a nrfiile. it pays to take a
chance on some music You just have
a hunch it may be something great
That happened for me with Chris
Hartord's debut atoixn The songs are
endlessly interestng, and youH think
you're hearing from the long-lost J.D.
Salinger with the opening cut "Raise
the Roof" Harford’s compelling vocal
style appears to have been concocted
by blending equal parts Elvis Costello
and David Bowie, and when he rocks
out with Ns band, as on‘Unsaid Thngs. *
he takes you back to the best moments
of Graham Parker — or is it Iggy Pop?
There are a lot of connectons to be
made here, and I’m still busy making
them Label mates ‘Dean and Gene
Ween' back Harford up on several
tracks, provng they don't always have
to be sidy Other members of the sup
porting cast nclude Toehi Reagon
Dave Dreiwitz (Tiny Lights). Loudon
Wainwnght III. and Richard Thompson.
but Harford makes sure
they all
double check the copyright date Yep.
this guy was recorded this year, but it
rakes heavtyon sounds I heard when I
was in the womb. Echoes of Captain
Beef heart (circa Trout Mask Replica).
Henry Cow. Half Japanese. U Totem,
and okf Roxy Music (the Eno gang)
blast through But the mix it stronger
than the parts It's not exactly fair to try
comparisons, anyway Unbekevabfy
Unique A must-get (A)
J. E SumreM
v c
serve the
interests of his music This is
eclecticism that works, and you have to
love a record that pits banjo riffs aganst
guitar feedback without making a mess
Jim Wnders
Thinking Fellers
Union Local 282
Mother Of All Saints (Matador)
Every so often, somthing crawls
nto my CD player and brngs back
such a surge of nostalgia. I have to
Brian Eno
The Shutov Assembly
OpalTWarner Brotvcrs)
he Hafler Trio
A Thirsty Fish (Solielmoon)
The Eno breaks no new ground
Strongly rerrwiiscent of older works such
as Apollo or Thursday Afternoon, this is
coffee break music, or languishing sex
music, or dinner music It depends on
who you might be with Recorded over
a five year penod. one gets the feeling
that he programmed it all and let it run
a bit too long I'm disapponted. after
the promise of Nerve Net. that he has
falen back into the okf traps
If you have either of the
above mentoned albums,
you have no need for The
Shutov Assembly. The
Haflers. on the other
hand. havr p resented us
with a disc that abso
lutely defies descrip
tion. Takng Eno s Am
bient Ethos to absurd
extremes, one would
not imagine that
samples of static,
noise (pure, vrtiite.
pink, subtle),
lyricless voices,
blasts of synth hits, and other
assorted junk (in the purest sense)
would be so damned interesting But it
is In a big way Three 20 minute suites
are blended together on this fasemat-
ng disc I do not recommend this
album to the weak of heart, and I have
been having one of the hardest tmes
trying to figure out how to communicate
reasons for my affection But it's a
collosal compliment when I play a 60
mnute disc twice in one sitting (Eno
B-. Hafler A)
J.E Sumrell
YOU’LL ALWAYS
FULL SERVICE
SELF-SERVICE
COLOR COPIES
FAX SERVICES
PRINTING
BINDING
Come enjoy the finest
and
truest flavors of Mexico
in one of the most
beautiful and romantic
restaurants in Athens!
Lunch & Dinner
11:30 a.m. - 10 p.m.
320E. CLAYTON ST. • 346-0190
The BEST Margaritas in town!!
Served using Jose Cuervo exclusively
NOW OPEN SUNDAYS
at 12 noon
J-A J FLEA
MARKET
4 miles North
of Athena on
Hwy. 441 N.
706-613-2410
Fri. Sat. & Sun. ’ * •-
8-5 Year Round