I remember when I first got into grindcore in the late eighties. It was such
a confusing rush to listen to any of it. Now it's aged, matured, and has become
even more virulent and hostile than ever. It appears that Florida's Hate Eternal
is here to
reinvent their version as a whole new language. That or they're simply reinterpreting
Hard Normal Daddy by Squarepusher.
Merging grind with math-rock, they're pushing the boundaries of a music that
was already nose-first against the proverbial ceiling with nowhere to climb.
It's all been done. Or, has it? Guitarist/vocalist Erik Rutan (ex-Morbid
Angel), bassist Jared Anderson, and drummer Derek Roddy are now the Death
Metal Police (as in the band). Roddy, the one-take king, just might have the
quickest feet I've ever heard in my life, and King Of All Kings had
my neighbor checking on me to make sure I was okay. Was it up that loud? Probably.
7/10. ("Powers
That Be" mp3 (Earache))
HIP HOP DUB ALLSTARS - "Volume One" (Illstyle Records)
I was quite curious to hear how "Ms. Jackson" could be done inna
dub stylee, so I hurried to put this on. It actually made me really want to
hear Outkast do the
original song again, so I dug Stankonia out. That release was Outkast's
commercial breakthroughand part of why their song got covered here, along
with tracks by Nelly, Lil' Bow Wow, Missy Elliott, and Lil' Romeo. I actually
didn't get very far into "Volume 1" before my hand gave an involuntary
twitch and the pathetic tribute mess came to an abrupt halt. I don't know
who thought up the name, but there wasn't a scrap of true "dub"
to be found anywhere. I guess the original working title was far too transparent:
Karaoke Cash In Chaos.
Ever watch the new "Wayne
Brady Show"? He's that very un-funny guy from Who's Line Is It
Anyway?. Every episode I've seen so far has a moment where he croons his
little heart out like a silly twat just before his first commercial break.
I was flipping through the stations this morning and the few seconds of Brady
that I caught sounded enough like this album to make me think he might be
moonlighting.
1/10.
YAKUZA - "Way
Of The Dead" (Century
Media)
So you say that saxophone and distorted guitar doesn't sound like it would
mix comfortably? Yakuza don't seem interested in resonant pacification, though
they have moments where the word serene comes to mind. They don't even
appear to look up much while they're playing, so what do they care if you
stay in the room or wander outside to chat up your best friend's girl? You
should come back in ASAP, because they're doing things you're not likely to
hear coming from a metal band in the near future.
I could name names, but even groups like Atheist with their virtuosity, jazziness
and self-discipline never got close to the ambience of "Signal 2.42".
Most metal, whether it's under the progressive/experimental banner
or not is about attack, and no one seems quite aware of restraint.
With Motorhead in
your family tree is it not that surprising? Now I love those guys, but Yakuza,
as a band, has more in common with Chick Corea than Lemmy Kilmeister.
The quartet closes Way Of The Dead with a forty-three minute song that
could have easily been from the sessions for
Can's
Soon Over Babaluma, minus the violins. Don't be surprised if you
hear them on the next album though.
8/10. ("T.M.S."
mp3. "Chicago
Typewriter" mp3.)
ANI DIFRANCO -
"So Much Shouting/So Much Laughter" (Righteous
Babe)
The scourge of rednecks and sexist swine everywhere, Ani Difranco is undoubtedly
the best-known entertainer of her kind in the 21st century. She's also someone
that almost everybody has an opinion about. Yes, Difranco isn't without her
detractors, doubters, or critics, but that's probably half of what keeps her
songs cathartic to some. She also has amassed
a legion of fans that buy just about anything she releases religiously. They're
quite anxious to hear her do, well, just about anything now.
Ms. Difranco runs her own record company (Righteous
Babe) and has released fourteen of her own full-length albums on it since
her debut in 1989. Always a highly motivated person, Ani was emancipated from
her parents at 15, moved into her own apartment, and began playing coffeehouses
and taverns throughout Buffalo NY - just her and an acoustic guitar. The audiences
started out sneering between drinks, and complaining loudly, but her unique
sound eventually caught on. Self-doubt was never an option. This sound I speak
of is a bit off-key most of the time - both her guitar and vocals - and appears
to owe a bit to Nico (of Velvet Underground fame) and your favorite porn star.
More than simply being an honest and outspoken lesbian advocate, Difranco
is living proof that hard work will eventually get you almost anywhere.
Her brand new double-disc live collection So Much Shouting, So Much Laughter
catches her in front of her affectionate fans, with self-effacing humor, and
an almost rehearsed clumsiness. She begins by laughing at her mistakes with
some of the chords to "Swan Dive". "Oh no, let's try that again!".
She and the soundman agree on the right guitar tone, she adjusts the volume,
but it still sounds like a holy racket to me, and didn't hold my interest
for a second. As she begins murmuring the opening lines, someone in the crowd
goes "woo!" just like they probably do at concerts by her arch nemesis,
Limp Bizkit. Later, between verses, the crowd shouts their boisterous approval,
as if to tell her to "go get 'em, girlfriend!". How is this any
different than the social mannerisms she purports to be waging war against?
If you were to take the average male audience at a Britney Spears show and
put them next to those buying Ani Difranco concert tickets, they're rather
similar. Both relate to the artists on a very, very physical level. Ani has
been called "The Most Dangerous Woman in America" and I would agree
with that were it still 1952. I suppose it was only a matter of time before
someone made singing and playing off-key and out of tune a very cool thing
to do.
About three songs into this I started wanting to reach into the stereo and
fix her guitar myself. Perhaps that's what makes her a "Righteous Babe".
Ani just doesn't care, maaan! You can tell she knows the basics of
singing too. She just doesn't want to sing "properly". That's for
squares and "breeders". I did enjoy her slight poke at Americana
in the cd artwork: a sign reading "We Believe In God - America - Trucks."
Speaking as a feminist myself, I agree enthusiastically with her personal
politics, but I just couldn't take remote pleasure in this album at all. Even
the spaces between the songs
were defiled by her own audience hooting and hollering like it were half-time
at the Super Bowl and Difranco was part of "Cheerleaders in Heat".
I find her music to be pretentious, poorly played, and rather hackneyed or
stereotypical for
the "punk folk" genre she's attempting to spearhead. When the double
album was over I wasn't energized, like I should have been. I was bored, so
I put Otis Redding back on. The interplay between the members of the horn
section was utterly superb, but that's about all I can really recommend about
this.
Hell is a small room with a very loud jukebox stocked with just these two
discs.
(notes: "Ani just doesn't care, maaan!" is a play on the phrase by fellow "revolutionary" John Lydon (Sex Pistols). "Breeders" is a derogatory term given by gay people to straight folk. "He's a breeder, yuck." Someone said that about me once when I lived in San Francisco, and the phrase stuck in my head. It's the gay equivalent of calling someone a "fag".)
