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they came from. They're hem. urtiether
you Mff it or not onehether you
believ*! it or not. rid Third Eye
Foundation has the proof on tape. (P. 0.
Box 1235. Chapel Hitt, NC 27514)
Chris Morris
VARIOUS ARTISTS
Tonic Two
(Burlington VT Compilation)
Big Heavy Work!
This collection of music from in
and around the Burlington area proves
they have more going on than Phish,
but. unfortunately, not much of it is any
good. Most ol this is in the alt-meta!
vein of the earty-Lollapalooza years...
ylcnow, feedback-drenched, dorm-
iuetsd angst that communicates by
bashing in the listener's head.
There's a surprising amount of
derivative grunge in the chilly
Northeast. Minimus delivers a misogy
nist anthem (‘Down") that could be
worthy of Ump Bizkil H it rapped over
their Tool-lik* grooves. Lines like ‘I
don't hate you/ Well, I don’t mean to.
but you look so pretty when you're
down* say it a'l. and Sam Black
Church's “We Come In Peace* is so
close to parody it could be done by a
punk version of Spinal Tap.
My favorite here is Barbacoa's
“Hammerhead ’ Ite basically a typical
instrumental surf song, but the extra
distortion adds |ust the right edge to
remind some ol Alice Cooper (the
band, not the charadei played by Vince
Fumier). It makes me want to hear more
from them. I can't say that for the rest of
the artists here. There's always a debate
on ffhafll be the next Athens or Seattle,
out if this compilation accurately
reflects the scene that it's promoting. I
feel sale assuming that it won! be
Burlington. (P. 0. Box 428. Burlington,
VT 05402)
Chris McKay
WILCO & BILLY BRAGG
Mermaid Avenue Vol. II
Eiektra
Humans as a rule should probably
go it alone; collaboration is shaky
ground. And I don't mean just musical
collaborations—isn't the divorce rate
nearing like 60 percent? Lester Bangs
wrote in 1977 that ‘solipsism holds all
the cards at present." and hets still rigtit.
What sucks is that a lot of collabo
rations should be worthwhile. Dylan and
the Dead should be great, but it's a
waste of time. Dylan and The Band is a
combo with immensely less commercial
appeal, but itts golden. I guess the
updated version would (sort of) be Vic
Chesnutt and Widespread vs. Vic
Chesnutt and Lambchop. Go figure.
You can put R.E.M. and the B-521s
in the same room, and it seems tike it’d
work. I mean they're from the same
town, right? But now R£M. refuses to
play “Shiny Hippy People’and we can
ail thank them for that.
Think of it like this:
Elvts Costello ♦ Burt Bacharach = shit.
Puff Daddy + Sting = shit on the radio.
Nixon 4 Kissinger=shit on Cambodia.
Clinton 4 Arafat 4 Barak = talking shit
about holy shit.
Me 4 your lady = just talking shit. .
So, in 1998, when Mermaid Avenue
came out, I got giddy at first like
anyone, but then I got suspicious. Wilco
4 Billy Bragg 4 Woody Guthrie lyrics =
aderol 4 pot (the shiznit) or Szechwan 4
a bean burrito {the shits)? So I had a
friend make a tape of it for me just in
case. Turned out it was one of the best
albums of *98 and Vol. IIis no slouch.
It probably helps that Wilco and
Bitty Bragg aren't coming from totally
different planets, just different entries;
shelve 'em both under ‘Guthrie’ and it
makes sense And if nothing else, it*
nice to see good musicians—
Americana ones to boot—put music to
the buttioad of tuneless Guthne lyrics in
the archives. They picked some ringers,
too; listening to stuff like ‘My Flying
Saucer’ or ‘Joe DiMaggio Done it
Again,’ itb hard to believe came from
the same guy wrfio did ’This Land Is •
Your Land."
Guthne tanatics like it, Wilco
fanatics like it. and Billy Bragg fanatics
like it. so Mermaid Avenue Vol. II is one
of those rare moments when a collabo
ration thatls trying to get all the snot-
nosed stepkids around one table gives
us something otner than, um. shit. I
guess we could call it shinota. (345 N
Maple Dr.. Ste. 123. Beveriy Hilis, CA
90210)
Paul Killebrew
QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE
Rated R
Interscope -
Look. I know you're no! supposed
to hold anybody's past against them,
but i can't help it. While I listen to Rated
R. my mind can't help but recall that
Josh I lomme was the mastermind
behind Kyuss.
Who the hell’s Kyuss? Well, don't
gel me started, but that band created
some of the most awe-inspiring sludge
to ever break its way to the earth s sur
face. Kyuss' music wasn't so much
about anything, just a wall ol riffage that
took Sabbath's Tony lommi one step
lurther. Busting out of the California
desert, you could hear the sand
between the notes on the band's mas
terpieces Blues For The Red Sun and
its farewell album ...And The Circus
Leaves Town. Along with Monster
Magnet. Kyuss was one ol the inventors
o1 what has come to be called “Stoner
Rock"—which is a bullshit term if you
ask me.
Anyway Rated /? lacks anything you
can sink your teeth into othe r than the
opening track “Feel Good Hit Ol The
Summer" and ‘Better Living Through
Chemistry’ (didn't Fatboy Slim have an
album called that?). The lormer's lyrics
consist solely of u list of drugs and a
chorus of *co-co-co-co-caine’ repeated
for its entire two minutes and 43 sec
onds. Sounds pretty bad. doesn't it? But
it isn't; Homme is now doing double
duty as both the guitarist and vocalist
and handles both quite competently
and sometimes he really hits the nir-
van? we ail seek in music.
Nowhere does he transcend the
ordinary but on the previously men
tioned ‘Better Living Through
Chemistry.* With its bongo-laden
opening, you think you're in for an
audio version of a Sexploitation flick,
but the percussion is soon joined by a
winding bass line that slithers its way
into your brain, but it* not over. In tact,
it* just beginning. The bass then goes
into a psychedelic realm that even the
mighty Kyuss never touched upon and
then just as you wonder if it can go any
higher, the song blasts into overdrive.
With a track like that, i cant help
but think that Homme is still capable ot
greatness, but on tracks tike the aptly
titled ‘Auto Pilot’ and ‘In the Fade,’ it
sounds like Queens Of The Stone Age
have taken their title of Kings of Stoner
Rock and their bongs way too tar. (2220
Colorado Avenue, Santa Monica. CA
90904)
Bruce Folkerth
AIMEE MANN
Bachelor No. 2
Super Ego
The soundtrack to the movie
Magnolia has given Aimee Mann more
attention than at any time smoe she
arrived on the scene in 1985 fronting Til
Tuesday. That group made a huge
splash when “Voioes Carry ’ the single
Irom the band's debut album of the
same name, become a major hit. Mann*
recent return to radio behind the
Magnolia [rack "Save Me" is long
overdue. Since launching her sdo
career. Mann has been quietly putting
out some of the most tuneiul, creative
and lyrically edgy pop music on the
planet.
Bachelor No. .2continues the tradi
tion with its usual share ot first-rate
songs. Many ot the songs find Mann
working the kind ot mid-tempo style that
typilied many of the songs on the
Magnolia soundtrack. (In lad. a tew
prime Magnolia songs. ‘Driving
Sideways." “You Do’ and 'Deathly' get
a second airing on the collection). New
songs like "Red Vines.” "The Fall 01 The
Worlds Own Optimise and "Nothing Is
Good Enough” leature the kind ot win
some, easy-on-the-ear pop melodies
that seem to come so easily to Mann.
And a quick listen tc the stinging mes
sage o! the latter song is enough to
know that Mann hasn't lost the lyrical
bite that often lurks underneath the
inviting melodies otter music.
'll there’s a weakness to new album,
its in the lack ol musical variety. Mann's
previous studio albums. Whatever and
I'm Witn Stupid, always came with a lew
frisky rockers to balance the more intro
spective material on those albums.
Bachelor No. 2 rarely steps away from
its comloriable mid-tempo gait. Still, the
quality ol the music easily compensates
tor any lack of variety.
Word is that Mann had originally
recorded a version ol this album that
was rejeded by Interscope Records
during a brief time wrier Mann was
signed to that label. She then bo jght
back the tapes alter splitting with the
label. Considering the quality o! this
disc and Mann's recent exposure on
radio, passing on Bachelor No. 2 won!
go down as one ol the smarter deci-
sionr in Interscope's history.
Alan Scully
MobeRWse
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Saturday,
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Before the
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DEU&PUB
VS
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present:
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DAEMONS
The Party Band of the South
2pm at Locos on Harris Street on Top of Baxter Hill
Tickets on Sale at ail 3 Athens Locations
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AUGUST 23, 2000 FLAGPOLE S